I thought you might be interested in this. The accident in which a car struck Jason Zeidman last week near Farragut School has to be a wake-up call that things within the city must be corrected.
The newspaper’s recent piece is a start in the right direction.
Mr. Heyl includes recent correspondence on the subject of school safety, starting with a letter he addressed on Tuesday to School Board member Jessica Beagles-Roos and other city officials:
Jessica,
Thank you for your input on the Jason Zeidman accident.
Let me tell you about the 10700 block of Farragut Drive as I see it.
The City Council and the School Board can consider it as my input.
At one end of the block are businesses that either have insufficient or no off-street parking. The one with no off-street parking hosts events that require parking facilities most weekday evenings and all day on the weekends.
The neighborhood has petitioned the City Council for “Permit Parking Only” for relief.
My understanding of the CN Zoning District is that it is for businesses that serve the neighborhood and is
“intended to create a pedestrian-oriented environment” (Culver City Municipal Code 17.220.010 A).
So, there is one source of frustration. It is further compounded by the lack of resources available to the Police Dept.
to enforce the posted “Permit Parking Only” signs in a regular, timely manner. I was told by the Police Dept. on one occasion that there was one Parking Enforcement Officer in the field for the entire city, and their main job was ticketing for Street Cleaning violations. Limited police resources means that there is not regular police presence in the gateways, like Farragut Drive, that lead to the School District Complex during drop-offs and pick-ups to discourage
inappropriate behavior by drivers, as well as the inability to collect revenue by ticketing illegal parking.
At the other end of the block is the School District Complex that causes unbelievable traffic congestion
several times a day during the week. I understand that my neighbor Kathy Ross (Bordiga) was instrumental in getting that stop sign, where Jason Zeidman was injured, installed.
For the most part, I understand that the school traffic is a necessary, to be lived with, evil. Unfortunately there are a few drivers that make me fearful of things like what happened to Jason Zeidman.
For some, the destination or point of departure appears to be the Child Care Center as they zoom by my house. My youngest daughter hesitates to cross Farragut Drive as some drivers are totally oblivious to pedestrians. As my neighbor Ron Davis can speak more to, the Child Care Center causes much long term illegal parking and an unsafe environment
with no cross-walk and limited visability on that entrance.
You must also factor in the traffic that is coming through the residential neighborhoods to beat the congestion
on the main streets. Many times I have seen cars turn into the Child Care Center and come right back out on to Farragut Drive because they didn't know the Center was there. I saw one car speeding after another towards Elenda down Farragut Drive. High school traffic? I can only say that both cars rolled through both stop signs on Farragut Drive….
There are problems, and the community needs to let our civic leaders know that they have to be fixed.
More Police, better facility design at the School District Complex — something has to be done.
Ms. Beagles-Roos’s response:
Yes it is distressing that some parents and students don't act in safer or more
considerate ways. The schools and PTAs do work on traffic safety issues.
The police do periodically monitor school areas and give traffic citations (and
there are over a dozen public and private schools in Culver City).
You probably know that the crossing guards are funded by the city. The City Traffic Engineers
conduct neighborhood traffic studies and work on traffic mitigation plans. They
have worked with many neighborhoods, including those surrounding schools.
From Mr. Heyl to the aforementioned Mr. Davis:
Thanks for your additional comments regarding my e-mail to Police Chief
Pedersen. My three daughters are alumni of the El Marino Language Japanese
Immersion Program; and the following information has come into my hands. I am
instructing a Martial Arts class the night of the Board of Education meeting and
will be unable to attend. I think it would to the neighborhood's advantage
if some one could represent the 10700 block of Farragut Drive?
I have often considered that utilizing the Coombs
Park area as a “One Way” traffic circle and closing the 10700 block to
“Thru Traffic" might be an answer to all of our problems with traffic
congestion and illegal parking. Traffic could use the wider Coombs Avenue to a
"drop-off area," utilizing Coombs Park. The traffic light at
Overland/Franklin could regulate how many cars could were approaching the
"Coombs Traffic Circle" from Franklin Avenue.
I agree with your observation that the School District could be better utilizing their
facilities to mitigate the dangerous environment that exists during drop-offs
and pick-ups. Our history is filled with too many hindsight decisions after
tragedy. I hope this accident will be the last wake-up call — that we will not
be attending a funeral in the future because some child wanted an a popsicle or
was late to class.
From Mr. Davis to Mr. Heyl:
I can only say that I have witnessed many near misses in front of the
Children’s Center and the primary school as parents drive blindly into the Center and
then back out because of no way or place for them to turn around.
And the tendency of the school children to dart in and out among the many illegally parked cars
on Farragut during peak school hours is a tragedy waiting to happen.
We now have ice cream vendors on the sidewalk, which brings children running to buy
The treats.
Perhaps it would help if the traffic could be patrolled and supervised, safety
guards posted to watch the children as they make their way to and fro, and the
parents encouraged to navigate their drop-offs without parking illegally for
sometimes several hours before and after school.
And it has always amazed me that with the large parking lot at the school no
one has figured out a way to supervise the morning and afternoon traffic,
especially regarding the Children’s Center. Why we don't have staff
standing outside on the street or curb receiving the children from parents without
having the parents stop, park, and then try to exit from a closed off street (entry
to the Children’s Center) is a question I can't answer.
I only hope that a child is not hurt before some action is taken.
And of course, this issue of safety does not even begin to touch on the
anxiety and stress that most parents must feel as they try to drop of and pick up
their children in a safe and timely fashion.
