MARYSVILLE Rolling Greens resident Mason Hopkins has been pushing for sidewalks on 100th Street NE for a while.
Though school officials say walkways may not have prevented the incident, hes renewed that call after a car struck a Cascade Elementary student walking home from the school Feb. 13.
Cascade sits on 100th NE. Parents in both the Rolling Green and Kellogg Village developments are among those calling for sidewalks. Hopkins has delivered some 70 letters calling for walks on the street to the Marysville School District Board of Directors. Angry and concerned parents also sent numerous e-mails to The Globe following the incident on Feb. 13.
Each day kids are walking on the shoulder of 100th, which has a speed limit of 35 mph, said parent Jeff Adams. A majority of the time, teens and adults alike are driving even faster than that.
I refuse to let my kids walk because of safety concerns, said Marcy Thil, another Cascade parent. The one time we had to because of car issues, I was nervous.
Thil added the real problem, in her mind, is that kids who do walk everyday become immune to what she sees as the dangers of walking on the street.
I have come close many a time to hitting kids who werent paying attention, she said, adding kids swing back packs and engage in horseplay, not realizing how close they are to passing cars.
Im not a parent, but feel it is our responsibility to provide as safe an environment as possible for the children and other pedestrians along this street, said resident Glynda OBryan.
Cascade Principal Chris Sampley talked about the four or five adult paraprofessionals who help guide kids walking along 100th at various points, including 51st, 52nd and 55th streets. She further mentioned student patrols and safety cones set up along with street.
Last year, the district added two flashing, yellow traffic lights on the east and west side of the building. According to Sampley, the county plans a traffic signal at the intersection of 100th and 51st.
Finally, Sampley said in her four years at the school, no child has been involved in a traffic mishap prior to earlier this month.
District Assistant Superintendent Gail Miller outlined the Feb. 13 incident as follows. She said the student, who was not identified, crossed 100th at 51st Street with the help of a crossing guard. The student traveled east on 100th with a group of students, who apparently became attracted by a wooded area on the other side of 100th Street, about 100 yards from the school. The students crossed the street, not at a crosswalk.
Kids are impulsive, they do things, Miller said.
According to Miller, the victim saw a No Trespassing sign in the wooded area and decided to turn back, which is when the accident occurred.
In this situation, Miller said, Im not sure sidewalks would have made any difference. She added the school administration did not receive any complaints about safety around Cascade following the incident.
To me, it doesnt matter if the kids were at fault on this one, Thil said. As parents and adults, if something more serious happens, it will be our fault because we have seen it coming all along.
Hopkins said the district notified parents about the accident in a letter sent home with students on Feb. 14. The letter did not talk extensively about the condition of the student, who apparently suffered a leg injury. Both Miller and Sampley declined to release any further details.
Sampley said the new flashing lights were the result of a grant given out by Snohomish County. Officials applied for a sidewalk grant from the county last year. According to Sampley, what amounted to a computer problem meant the application was never formally sent. She said the grant would be resubmitted this year, though she couldnt give a time line on any decision.