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Police urge safe drop offs, pick ups
(by Joe Olivieri - September 24, 2008)
These are well-known laws.
Walk at the crosswalk, don’t double park and don’t block other people’s driveways.
The fact that people so frequently disregard laws like these may have caused the edge in Verona Police Chief Douglas Huber’s voice at Monday’s school safety traffic workshop.
“These are our kids. They watch us. They look up to us. They expect you to do the right thing and set the right tone,” he scolded at the Verona Township Council special meeting.
Huber explained safe pick-up and drop-off practices for the six public schools and Our Lady of the Lake school.
Verona’s 33 crossing guards help transport 1,500 to 2,000 students every day, the chief said.
“We do surveys and counts and put them where they can help the most,” he said of the guards. “In comparison, Cedar Grove has 16 and North Caldwell has two.”
Verona’s four elementary schools serve students from kindergarten through fourth grade – meaning children ages 5 to 10.
Brookdale Avenue School has four crossing guards. Parents can enter the horseshoe driveway’s north side, drop off students curbside in front of the school and circle out to exit.
Drivers cannot park in its inside curb, according to the chief.
“The crosswalk is the only place to cross,” he said of dropping students off elsewhere. “If you instruct your children any other way, you’re doing an injustice to your children and it’s the wrong way.”
“The principals at the elementary schools are out there every day, directing traffic,” Mayor Ken McKenna said.
After calling the school layout “very challenging,” Huber said Forest Avenue School has seven crossing guards and a drop-off point in front of the school.
There is no parking on Forest Avenue’s north side and no double parking on the south side.
Parents must park legally if they park on side streets and walk their children to school, according to Huber.
“If you cross anywhere but the crosswalk, we will stop you or your child,” he said. Motorists should not block residents’ driveways.
McKenna said the township would consider widening Forest Avenue when the road is up for reconstruction in the future. He also asked motorists to turn off their cars to prevent idling.
Motorists must stay with their vehicles at all times, the chief emphasized.
“In the afternoon, when parents arrive early, it’s acceptable to park if you’re sitting in your car,” Councilman Santi Condorelli said. “It’s not a time to socialize.”
Huber said Grove Avenue is an advantage and disadvantage for F. N. Brown Elementary School traffic – the road is wider, but cars travel faster.
The school has five crossing guards and its drop-off point is in front of the building.
“There are cars that use Grove as a cut-through and it’s right near Verona High School, so there are a lot of young drivers on the road,” Huber said.
Only special education buses can use F. N. Brown’s driveway during the day, he said.
McKenna suggested placing weight restrictions on Grove and Forest avenues to limit truck traffic, except for deliveries.
Laning Avenue School benefits from Lanning Road’s one-way status, Huber said.
Parents should pull up to the front of the line so that as many cars can turn onto the road as possible. The drop-off point is in front of the school.
“If there’s bad weather, all three entrances will be open,” Huber said. “There will be one within [several] feet of where the kids get out.”
Students dropped off on the south side of Lanning Road must walk to the crosswalk.
Special education students are the only ones who can use the Elk Road entrance.
Huber called H.B. Whitehorne Middle School “our most challenging school.”
The area’s five crossing guards move almost 1,000 students to the public middle school and Our Lady of the Lake on nearby Lakeside Avenue. The guards work until 4:15 p.m. instead of 3:45.
Only parents traveling westbound on Bloomfield Avenue may access the Verona Civic Center and drop off students in front of the school. They must drop off and go, as cars pile up quickly, Huber said.
There is no parking on Gould Street during school hours because of school pick-up.
Motorists must park in Municipal Lot 1 spaces and not pull up next to the school when picking up children.
Huber said people must push the crossing button to be able to cross Bloomfield Avenue. He hoped a countdown pedestrian crossing signal is on the way.
Verona High School has three crossing guards. Parents can drop off students in the horseshoe in front of the school. Students must use the crosswalk when crossing Sampson Drive.
At approximately 30 feet wide, Sampson is large enough for two passing lanes and a parked lane, Huber said.
Condorelli said the school district could direct bus drivers where to park and “hopefully the parents follow suit.”
According to the chief, buses park along Sampson to access band practice and gymnasium, where students carry out heavy equipment.
Our Lady of the Lake has two crossing guards and serves 250 students daily. Motorists drop off students in the school parking lot.
Huber ended his assessment with some reminders. There’s no parking: within 50 feet of a stop sign; 25 feet of a crosswalk and 10 feet of a fire hydrant.
“The handicap spots are for handicapped people - respect that,” he said.
“Anyone who has lived here for awhile knows what happened in West Orange, where the elementary school child was killed during the last 10 years,” the chief continued. “He ran in between the cars….”
Condorelli said he would update an older school traffic safety video for the school community associations and to broadcast on VTV.
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