SAYREVILLE – School officials are looking to station crossing guards at a busy county road to help students who drive to Sayreville War Memorial High School.
Students who drive to school initially dealt with the loss of parking at the high school when the district’s $47 million construction project began in fall 2006. Then, when residents of neighboring streets complained about students parking in front of their homes, the borough responded by restricting parking on those roads to those residents.
Students like 17-year-old Corinne Logan now park at Kennedy Park and cross Washington Road in order to go to and from school. The high school senior told the Suburban that motorists often present a challenge to pedestrians who cross the road at the mid-block crosswalk.
“People don’t like to stop,” Corinne said.
Fellow senior Katie Grimm, 18, said the painted lines between the entrances to the school and the park are not enough to deter drivers from speeding through the area as students attempt to cross the road.
“Some kids are reckless and they don’t look,” Grimm said. “We understand that the school can’t provide us parking, but the least they can do is make sure we’re safe when we do cross.”
However, Sayreville Police Sgt. John Bartlinski, who heads the department’s Traffic Safety Bureau, said the area in front of the entrances to the school and Kennedy Park is not a certified crosswalk and should not be certified, because it is a mid-block crosswalk. He said that the mid-block crosswalk is not necessary, since students can cross the street at its nearby intersection with Ernston Road, where crossing guards are stationed.
“We are not in favor of them doing that,” Bartlinski said of crossing midblock. “It’s dangerous for them to be doing that. There are two crossing guards on Washington and Ernston [roads] in the morning and the afternoon.”
“Mid-block crosswalks have to get approval from the county and the town,” Bartlinski added. “They’re dangerous.”
Despite the white lines painted on the road at the mid-block area, it is not approved as a crosswalk by the state Department of Transportation.
Board of Education President Michael Macagnone raised concerns about the safety of students crossing the road during a special meeting May 13. He proposed that the board pay to have crossing guards placed at the entrance of the high school and Kennedy Park for the remainder of the school year.
The move is a “no-brainer” in light of safety concerns, Macagnone said, adding that the borough would bill the school district for the expense of hiring a crossing guard for that area.
Macagnone said later that the board requested crossing guards through the borough’s business administrator, who was to forward the request to the chief of police. While the request is only for the final days of this academic year, Macagnone would like to know what police think about stationing crossing guards at the mid-block crosswalk next year.H
e said he became concerned about this when he recently witnessed an incident in which students were crossing Washington Road, but traffic on only one side of the road stopped for them.
“If the kids weren’t alert, one of them could have been hit,” Macagnone said.
Macagnone said that the municipality has auxiliary police officers at the midblock crosswalk when visitors park at the high school for major functions at Kennedy Park.
Macagnone noted that he agrees with Bartlinski’s assertion that students should walk to the nearby intersection, where crossing guards are currently stationed, but he is concerned that many are not doing that.
“I agree with him 100 percent,” Macagnone said, “but they are kids and they are not going to do that. They are going to take the shortest route, especially if they are late for school.”
Macagnone said the board would continue to pursue this matter through the proper channels.
“We are looking forward to working with the town to achieve this,”Macagnone said.