With the school year starting, students and parents can expect to see new signage designed to enhance safety around Buffalo's schools.
School zone safety improvements this year include high-visibility striping of crosswalks at 60 schools – public, charter and parochial. In addition, the word “SCHOOL” will be painted at the crosswalks, Public Works Commissioner Michael J. Finn said.
Crews from the city of Buffalo’s department of Public Works, Parks and Streets will do the work, which is expected to continue through the end of the construction season in November, Finn said Friday.
Finn reminded motorists about rules that go in effect when schools are in session.
“School zone speed limits will certainly be in effect in the city of Buffalo, 20 mph across the region,” Finn said. “Make sure you’re following the posted signs. When school buses are stopped, and the red arm is out, make sure you’re not passing school busses. Leave extra time. School always brings an additional amount of traffic across our whole region, and motorists should leave additional time, especially as bus drivers, parents, kids get used to the first week of school.”
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Public works crews have been striping crosswalks around schools since July 2021, starting with schools in high-traffic areas, including those where speed cameras were taken down.
Last year, 43 locations were completed. This year, the goal is about 60. The price tag for the entire project is $850,000, Finn said.
By the end of the initiative, more than 100 schools within the city will have new crosswalk striping, Finn said.
“Before the winter, what we’re looking to do is have all that work complete," he said. "That’s been ongoing. The contractor has started the work. They’re about 30% completed at this point. And they’ll be continuing until their work is complete.”
The city also has put in place traffic calming improvements at schools where concerns have been expressed, including adding bump-outs – or curb extensions out into the road – to slow vehicular traffic. Bump-outs shorten the distance pedestrians have to cross the street, and they give visual cues to drivers that the road is narrower, Finn said.
“An example I can give to you: Public School 32, Bennett Park Montessori on Clinton Street near Pine, has been one of those schools where principals, teachers, parents have expressed concerns about speeding,” he said. “Last year, we put bump outs in and re-striping to do traffic calming, specifically for that school – above and beyond what we’re doing just for all the schools in the city. It’s an ongoing dialogue that we have with the school district.
“The city is always trying new initiatives, observing how they work, hearing feedback from schools, from principals, from teachers, from parents about what they like to see. What works. What doesn’t. That’s what goes into a lot of the improvements that we do.”
