Manteca Councilwoman Debby Moorhead is pushing for a crosswalk on South Powers Avenue at Hutchings Street to improve the safety of kids walking to and from Lincoln School.
“We’re lucky that nothing unfortunate has happened out there yet,” Moorhead said of the combination of high speed traffic and kids darting out between parked cars to cross the busy street.
During one 90-minute visit to the location on a school day with Public Works Director Mark Houghton, Moorhead noted there were repeated instances of kids running across the street as traffic moved at a fast pace. In one instance a group of children trying to cross the street to beat a car picked up speed and ran the rest of the way leaving a girl in a cast struggling to keep up.
The situation was brought to Moorhead’s attention by nearby Powers Tract resident Fred Mylnar.
There are 166 homes in the Curran Grove neighborhood accessed via Hutchings Street.
Moorhead said Manteca Police Chief Dave Bricker favors a crosswalk as it would allow police to ticket for jaywalking between that crosswalk and an existing one where Powers meets Yosemite Avenue.
Moorhead said having two crosswalks to use and the possibility of being ticketed could be used by school officials to educate kids about how to properly cross the street.
The city is taking a two-prong attack. Shortly after Moorhead talked with Bricker and Houghton, the police department traffic division was assigned to the area one morning and issued six tickets for speeding in the 25 mph zone. They also parked an unmanned “placebo” marked police car near the intersection that worked to slow down traffic.
“We’re lucky that nothing unfortunate has happened out there yet,” Moorhead said of the combination of high speed traffic and kids darting out between parked cars to cross the busy street.
During one 90-minute visit to the location on a school day with Public Works Director Mark Houghton, Moorhead noted there were repeated instances of kids running across the street as traffic moved at a fast pace. In one instance a group of children trying to cross the street to beat a car picked up speed and ran the rest of the way leaving a girl in a cast struggling to keep up.
The situation was brought to Moorhead’s attention by nearby Powers Tract resident Fred Mylnar.
There are 166 homes in the Curran Grove neighborhood accessed via Hutchings Street.
Moorhead said Manteca Police Chief Dave Bricker favors a crosswalk as it would allow police to ticket for jaywalking between that crosswalk and an existing one where Powers meets Yosemite Avenue.
Moorhead said having two crosswalks to use and the possibility of being ticketed could be used by school officials to educate kids about how to properly cross the street.
The city is taking a two-prong attack. Shortly after Moorhead talked with Bricker and Houghton, the police department traffic division was assigned to the area one morning and issued six tickets for speeding in the 25 mph zone. They also parked an unmanned “placebo” marked police car near the intersection that worked to slow down traffic.
