JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An alarming number of students who attend a local charter school have been spotted darting in front of cars to cross a busy Jacksonville road.
The students attend River City Science Academy on Beach Boulevard, just west of Parental Home Road on the Southside. The school has 1,250 students in kindergarten through 12th grades.
Concerned News4Jax viewers contacted the I-TEAM about the students crossing the major road, and now we're getting answers.
A driver called us, worried about the number of children he had seen crossing all six lanes of traffic during the peak of morning rush hour. He was concerned that his complaints to the school district and city were being ignored.
The I-TEAM spent four months watching the intersection, studying what students were doing to get to class and to see if any changes were made as a result of the complaint.
I-TEAM investigators observed the same reckless behavior day after day, not just among students, but also other pedestrians and even drivers.
Students playing 'traffic roulette'
Students often walked right past our camera, stopped traffic and then ran across the road, pausing as cars passed to avoid being hit. Many of the cars frequently sped off the Hart Bridge Expressway toward Parental Home Road.
Drivers have a lot of navigating to do in a short distance at the intersection, and it can be difficult for them to see pedestrians during winter and early spring as they travel east with the sun in their eyes.
Cars traveling east on Beach Boulevard are merging with the expressway traffic as others try to cross two lanes to turn right onto Parental Home.
Most of the students were seen walking through the Winn-Dixie parking lot and crossing where the cars are merging.
The distance from the parking lot from which the students are crossing to the crosswalk that they should be using is 431 feet, which equals about 162 extra steps.
It took News4Jax investigators 80 seconds to walk that distance.
Problems with the crosswalk's timing?
Jon Durst, who regularly uses the crosswalk at the intersection, said the students don't use the crosswalk because they want to save time.
"It's easier than sitting here and walking and waiting to do it," he said.
He said he thinks the timing for the crosswalk is off, and that students do not use it frequently because they have to wait too long to cross.
The I-TEAM timed the wait, which was about 3 minutes.
But we also found that the crosswalk lights can be confusing for pedestrians.
The white sign that signals it is safe to cross stays illuminated only for about 5 seconds, not nearly enough time to cross six lanes of traffic. After 5 seconds, It switches to an orange caution sign that blinks.
Some pedestrians could be seen running when the light switches, apparently worried that the light was about to change and they would not have enough time to cross.
Drivers breaking the law
The I-TEAM also saw a number of parents and other drivers cutting corners to avoid waiting longer at the intersection.
We observed drivers waiting in the left-turn lane on Beach Boulevard becoming so impatient that they drove over the median to get to the school.
This was seen three times in a row one morning and on several other days when we staked out the intersection.
Another adult allowed a child to get out of a car to stand on the median and then cross three lanes of Beach Boulevard on foot, instead of waiting for the light to turn green.
The I-TEAM also recorded drivers doing U-turns on Parental Home Road, instead of waiting at the light that turns left toward the school.
I-TEAM gets results
After getting the runaround from the school, the Duval County School District and the city of Jacksonville, the I-TEAM found an empathetic ear within the Florida Department of Transportation.
We showed some of our video to FDOT spokesman David Fierro, who said the FDOT will now meet with students at the school.
"You brought this to our attention and we started saying, 'Hey, we have this program over here to educate students. Here's a perfect example of how we can get Walk Wise involved and let the students know what's going on out here,'" Fierro said. "They need to know how dangerous it is."
Fierro said FDOT received a complaint from a driver last November about students crossing the median to get to school. He said FDOT personnel have been studying the intersection and have decided to build a concrete barrier on the median to prevent pedestrians and drivers from crossing.
"It's a process, like everything else," Fierro said of why it took five months to see change. "If you're here looking at the situation, you'd say it should be immediate, but understand, we have situations like this all over Duval County. Frankly, we hope your newscast will help educate the parents, because ultimately the parents will have a lot more influence than anyone else as far as what's happening on the road. It's a crash waiting to happen."
Fierro said FDOT will also investigate the crosswalk's timing and lights at the intersection now that the I-TEAM has shown what students and drivers are doing to avoid waiting.
Fierro could not give a specific day or time when a barrier will be built on the median. He said FDOT is waiting for its engineers to calculate how much it will cost, and then it must be approved in the budget.
If you would like to give feedback, which may help expedite the process, you can call Fierro at 904-360-5582 or email him at David.Fierro@dot.state.fl.us.
Why doesn't school have school zone?
The principal of River City Science Academy said he has talked with the students about using the crosswalk, but said he cannot control what they do when they are off campus. He never returned the I-TEAM's calls about whether he would hire a crossing guard to improve safety.
Even though elementary age students attend the school, it does not have a school zone.
A district spokesperson said that because it is a charter school, the city of Jacksonville's public works department is responsible for creating a school zone in the area.
But a spokesperson in the mayor's office said it is not a city decision and referred us to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Fierro said that when the FDOT studied the number of students who live near the school, there were not enough of them who walk to campus to warrant slowing traffic on Beach Boulevard to create a school zone.
News4Jax safety analyst weighs in
Gil Smith, a former school resource officer and a veteran Jacksonville sheriff's officer, explained that the danger to students stems partly from a lack of understanding.
“A lot of people believe that if you start to cross a street that cars have to stop and yield to you. That's not true. Whenever you're crossing the street and you're not at an intersection, you must yield to the oncoming traffic," Smith said. "That's not what they're doing. They're just crossing and taking a chance. That's very dangerous.”
Contacting the I-TEAM
Are you worried about something you have seen or heard happening at your child's school? Let our I-TEAM know about it at jwaugh@wjxt.com.