JACKSONVILLE – The I-TEAM has learned that the Florida Department of Transportation is taking additional action to try to stop students and parents from taking dangerous risks, in front of a Southside charter school.
Last month, the I-TEAM showed how students were running in and out of traffic to cross Beach Boulevard, to reach the River City Science Academy.
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Our cameras also recorded drivers, many of them parents, pulling off on the side of Beach, near Parental Home Road, to drop off children at the school, instead of pulling into the carpool lane.
Since our story aired, the FDOT sent a letter to the office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, informing the city of the department’s plans to install new signs in the area. The signs will warn drivers that it is against the law to stop along the side of the road, in front of the school.
FDOT has also told the I-TEAM that it wants to build a barrier along the median of Beach Blvd. in the same area, to prevent students from darting into traffic, instead of using the crosswalk nearby.
As the I-TEAM’s Jennifer Waugh revealed, the distance from the parking lot where many students cross to the crosswalk where they should walk is only 431 feet, a distance which can be walked in about 80 seconds.
Following the I-TEAM’s initial report, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office patrolled the area, initially giving just warnings to pedestrians and drivers seen breaking the law, but later handing out citations.
Police said anyone caught running across the lanes instead of using the sidewalk would face a $67 fine.
After seeing the I-TEAM’s video of students darting across the street, an FDOT spokesman said the agency would be meeting with students at the school, to remind them of the importance of being safe when crossing the road.
If you have seen students crossing the road in an unsafe manner, or witnessed other risky behavior by students and drivers at River City Science Academy, you are asked to call the Florida Department of Transportation at 904-360-5582.