Pittsburgh to improve pedestrian safety near 3 elementary schools

Shannon Peterson drives his 6-year-old son Shannon Peterson Jr. to and from school every day so the boy doesn’t have to walk a dangerous route to his elementary school.

The Petersons live close enough to Arlington PreK-8 in Pittsburgh’s Arlington neighborhood that the school is well within walking distance, but Peterson said he doesn’t think the walking route is safe enough.

“There’s really no walkway for the kids,” he said as he dropped his son off at school last Thursday. “It’s really dangerous. The kids need a crosswalk and somewhere for kids to walk safely.”

Peterson said he’s walked the route from his home to the school before, but he offers his son a ride every day “because we’ve seen how dangerous it is.”

Some roads have no sidewalks, and the sidewalks that are there are often very narrow, he said.

A Tribune-Review reporter outside the school at drop-off time Thursday saw many sidewalks were cracked and damaged, and at least two cars in the vicinity jumped their tires onto nearby sidewalks to make more space for cars to drive by on the narrow streets.

Peterson, whose son doesn’t have the option of a school bus, said he’d like to see pedestrian safety improvements so local children can safety walk to and from Arlington’s elementary school.

Arlington PreK-8 is one of three schools in Pittsburgh slated to see such pedestrian upgrades, thanks to federal Safe Routes to School grant money, said Kim Lucas, director of the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure.

Pittsburgh Faison K-5 in Pittsburgh’s Homewood South neighborhood and Propel Hazelwood K-8 also will see pedestrian safety improvements.

Lucas said the three schools were chosen because they have a high number of students who choose not to walk school because there isn’t adequate pedestrian infrastructure.

Sonya Meadows, a spokeswoman for Propel Schools, said about 40% of students at Propel Hazelwood walk to and from school.

“In the past, the concerns from our school community have included the quality of the sidewalks, snow removal from sidewalks in the winter and speeding traffic,” Meadows said.

Ebony Pugh, a spokeswoman for Pittsburgh Public Schools, said the district’s transportation department has been working with the city to address safety concerns for students walking to school.

At Faison, she said, the city established a crossing guard position and added crosswalks. Officials gave families the routes that “provide the best conditions for walking, including those crossings with lower traffic volume, following an assessment of the walking zone,” Pugh said.

Because elementary school students who live within 1.5 miles from the school aren’t eligible for transportation, 251 of the school’s 367 students are classified as walkers, Pugh said.

At Arlington, the top issues were related to sidewalks, traffic conditions in front of the school and bus stop surroundings, Pugh said. Planned improvements to address those concerns include added signage and intersection improvements, she said.

At Arlington, 186 out of 329 students are designated as walkers.

Planned improvements include lighting, ADA ramps, pavement markings, traffic calming measures and crosswalk improvements, Lucas said.

Officials also are surveying other schools to see what improvements are needed, Lucas said.

The three schools already identified will see $125,000 in improvements.