In the fall of 2022, Allison McGill started spending time along the streets near Tyler Elementary School in Southeast D.C.
She’s not a paid crossing guard, but she has a vest to make sure drivers can see her as she helps kids walking to school cross the street. She’s been dedicating about 30 minutes every morning to keeping the area safe, alarmed by the number of near-miss incidents in the area.
There are city crossing guards closer to the school, but McGill said the intersection of 11th and G Streets Southeast is particularly problematic. It’s a stretch that she said gets routinely backed up with commuters.
Speeding, running red lights and failing to stop for people in crosswalks are fairly common occurrences, McGill said. Those tendencies have become so routine that neighbors and parents like McGill have stepped in, working to make sure students safely make it across the street.
Recently, Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen and D.C. Department of Transportation Interim Director Sharon Kershbaum held a community walk around the area, to consider ways to make it safer. Allen expects the agency to provide some short-term fixes in about a week.
“I started to notice that it’s really risky for the kids crossing,” McGill said. “It’s like a highway. It’s really risky for them, and there have been a lot of near misses.”
McGill’s concerns started in 2019, when she said she watched the person who helps with a local crosswalk almost get hit by a car.
When the neighborhood gets backed up with traffic, cars sometimes block the crosswalks, McGill said. That means “either kids have to go on to incoming traffic, or have to walk in between cars that are kind of scooting.”
“This intersection in particular at 11th and G, we’ve got crossing guards, we’ve got parents putting on vests and stepping out into traffic, and it’s still incredibly dangerous,” Allen said.
In addition to crossing guards in the area immediately around the school, D.C. police officers also have a presence in the area, McGill said. However, officers aren’t there every day.
On Monday, with an officer present, McGill said there wasn’t anyone close to being hit. Tuesday, when police weren’t nearby, a car ignored the crossing guard and almost hit a family, she said.
Sometimes, the area can be so dangerous for pedestrians that McGill said her husband got her extra insurance, in case she gets injured while she’s helping.
“I’ve been almost hit numerous times, so we thought that might be wise,” McGill said.
In the near future, Allen said he’s working with the police department on establishing more of a regular presence. However, he’s asking DDOT to reevaluate the whole corridor.
“There’s just no reason under the sun that a parent is going to have to don a yellow vest and get out there and put their own body in the way,” Allen said.
“The traffic on 11th Street, because it feeds into the highway, we just see people that are driving way too fast and get impatient and aggressive,” Allen said. “That’s a dangerous combination when you’re right next to a school.”
The situation isn’t as dire in the afternoons, Allen said, because students get picked up at different times, depending on after-school activities.
Nonetheless, he said the problems are likely the result of how the roads in the area were designed.
“You see a lot more aggressive driving on some of those roads, because it’s built for speed,” Allen said. “It’s built to move people in cars. It’s not built to actually move people safely back and forth from school or to the grocery store or to their neighbor’s house.”
In an emailed statement, a DDOT spokesman pointed to the agency’s participation in the recent safety walk-through.
“DDOT is actively exploring opportunities to enhance safety conditions along 11th Street SE,” DDOT said in the statement. “We are committed to collaborating with Councilmember Allen and the community to identify and implement effective measures to address these concerns. DDOT remains dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of all pedestrians across our city and will continue to work closely with stakeholders to achieve this goal.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
