Column: Green Bay must slow traffic in school zones

On Dec. 15, I witnessed a child nearly lose his life at a dangerous intersection across from Aldo Leopold Community School.

While this near accident was no doubt the fault of the driver, who was both speeding and not obeying the rules of pedestrian right-of-way, this intersection has been an ongoing problem, which the city has failed to mitigate.

The city of Green Bay must do more to encourage drivers to slow down and yield to pedestrians, especially on busy roads in school zones. This city can and must shape the physical environment to help drivers see pedestrians.

The incident occurred on South Monroe Avenue, at the intersection of Eliza Street. It was just after 1 p.m. on an early release day, as I was en route to collect my son, a kindergartner at Aldo. I was southbound in the left lane and had stopped, waiting behind a car turning left. As the car turned, I saw that a young boy was waiting to cross the road, so I continued to yield. Two northbound vehicles passed, failing to stop; after they passed, the boy checked for traffic, saw me waiting, and then began to cross. In my rearview mirror, I could see a midsize SUV approaching in the right southbound lane. I was concerned at the speed of the vehicle, which I’d estimate at 40-45 mph, and the driver wasn’t slowing down as he neared the intersection. (The speed limit in this area is 25 mph generally, 15 in the school zone.)

I looked back to the boy to gauge his walking speed, and it seemed the SUV was on course to hit him. I considered pulling my car into the right lane, to let the SUV hit me instead of the child. At the last minute, I honked my horn to alert the speeding driver and the boy of one another. The boy leapt from the road into the snowbank and the driver slammed on his brakes just in time. I was certain the boy had been hit, but by the grace of God he wasn’t. I thought about that boy all weekend and what might have happened to him.

In 2015, a dog on a leash was killed in this very intersection. In the last six weeks, two children were hit by cars on the Meacham and Mason streets crosswalk in front of Franklin Middle School. But according to the city’s “Neighborhood Traffic Calming” document, to implement the process of documenting and mitigating traffic concerns, “the street must be classified as ‘Residential’” and “the City will not implement traffic calming measures, or conduct traffic calming studies on ‘arterial,’ ‘collector’ streets, and Green Bay Metro bus routes.”

Monroe Avenue is labeled an arterial street. But, it’s also a residential street, not to mention a school zone, a school that serves children as young as 4 years old. It’s also a road many pedestrians and bicyclists cross to reach the Fox River Trail. We can and must do better to protect children and enhance the quality of life in the city generally. The city should amend this policy to include school zones, and do more make pedestrian safety a priority.

Signs alone do not dissuade drivers from ignoring the rights and safety of pedestrians. We need a culture change. The city can facilitate that at high pedestrian intersections, first, by making crosswalks more visible with paint or bricks, a flashing light, and permanent speed feedback signs. Drivers, too, have a responsibility to slow down in school zones and allow pedestrians the right-of-way.

And until the city acts to engineer pedestrian safety, we need more police monitoring of school zone traffic. 

Tara DaPra of Allouez is a lecturer of English composition and humanities at UW-Green Bay.