Parents dropping off and collecting children at Marian Academy are contributing significantly to the traffic congestion and dangerous conditions outside the Carifesta Avenue school, Traffic Chief Mahendra Singh has said, while promising to engage the Ministry of Public Works on road markings in the area.
Singh’s comments yesterday came after a member of the public, Peter Bouchard, wrote a letter to Kiskadee Watch expressing concern over what he described as increasingly dangerous conditions outside the school during afternoon dismissal.
Bouchard said the situation had become so hazardous that families were being forced to cross a busy four-lane road amid speeding and improperly positioned vehicles.
“For those readers who enjoy a good horror movie or get a kick out of suspense series, you could do no better than to sit outside the Marian Academy on Carifesta Avenue at 1500 on a weekday, when school lets out,” Bouchard wrote.
He said he had personally observed vehicles driving towards families attempting to cross the road to reach parked vehicles, while mothers were forced to pull children out of the way of approaching traffic.
“It is a miracle that no-one has yet been injured or killed and it is almost a certainty that someone will be, very soon, if nothing is done about it,” he said.
Bouchard also questioned the absence of visible police enforcement during the busy afternoon period, the lack of warning signs near the school gates and the removal of the pedestrian crossing.
But according to Singh, the congestion is being compounded by parents who insist on driving into the school compound or stopping along the roadway to collect their children.
He said the road now has four lanes and questioned why parents continue to create bottlenecks by attempting to use the same limited spaces for drop-off and collection.
“Imagine the double parking on the road, blocking up by the entrance of the first gate by the National Park,” Singh said, while pointing to the behaviour of some parents.
Singh said the police had previously attempted to manage the situation, including intervening with parents whose vehicles were contributing to the congestion.
He said parents must also accept responsibility for the conditions outside the school instead of placing the entire burden on the police.
In response to concerns about the absence of a pedestrian crossing, Singh said the road works are not yet complete and that there is a reason the road markings have not yet been installed.
He said he would immediately engage the Ministry of Public Works regarding the markings.
“I will engage the Ministry of Public Works immediately to go ahead with road markings,” Singh said.
Singh cautioned, however, that the issue goes beyond simply painting a pedestrian crossing on the roadway.
He questioned whether a pedestrian crossing at that particular location would be safe if children and parents were crossing while vehicles continued moving through the area.
The Traffic Chief also indicated that the school’s Parent-Teacher Association should play a role in addressing the traffic problems created during drop-off and pick-up periods.
Bouchard, meanwhile, has called for greater caution from both motorists and parents, warning that the current situation could result in a serious accident if left unchecked.
“If you are a parent please, please, please exercise the utmost caution when leaving the school,” he wrote.
“If you are a driver, please, please, please slow down and have the decency to understand this is a school where our children go to study, children who want to grow up to see their lives through, not carelessly thrown away due to a total lack of common sense outside their place of learning.”
Discussion