Slowing it down means speeding it up

James White hung his head slightly, bracing against the wet snow falling Tuesday afternoon as he walked from Carson High School to his home in the Sunset Carson City Apartments across the street.

A blue knit cap reached nearly down to his eyes. School had been out for 20 minutes, and he had a little wait to get across Saliman Road.

"Sometimes I have had problems crossing the street, sometimes I haven't," said White, a sophomore at Carson High. "Sometimes people won't stop for you."

Down the street, school zone beacons in front of Fremont and Seeliger elementary schools flashed on and off, warning drivers to drop their speeds to 15 mph.

A similar school zone might be in place for the 2005-06 school year in front of Carson High School.

"We're looking at the project this summer, which would include a large installation with some lights that drop the speed limit to 15 mph when they flash," said John Flansberg, deputy city engineer for Carson City.

The speed limit on Saliman would also increase to 35 mph. Such a proposal would likely go the Regional Transportation Committee in March or April for consideration, not soon enough for Robin Browne, a parent with two high school students.

Browne met with Flansberg and Mike Mitchell, Carson City School District director of operations, Monday to discuss her concerns.

"The meeting went OK," she said. "Except they want to wait until the summer to address the issue. I don't agree with that. You know what, if anything happens to the kids between now and this summer, it's not on my conscience."

Concerned that something needs to be done sooner, she called Flansberg on Tuesday to suggest that school zones signs on Musser Street in front of the Gleason Building, a former school in the district, and be put in front of Carson High for the remainder of the school year as a test of sorts.

The Musser signs drop the speed limit to 15 mph during certain times of the day, but lack flashing beacons.

"I don't know why we can't do the 15 and see what it would do," she said. "If they put them up after spring break, it would be April, May, June, until the kids are out and it would be an experiment. Why spend all this money when the signs are sitting there? It's all a bureaucracy."

Browne is not alone in her concerns. Mitchell said the school district also supports a school zone at the only high school in town.

"We are in support of having the flashing lights," he said. "We are also in support of a change in speed limit that would be geared toward just when the kids are there. We think that would help the traffic flow in general and during the normal part of the day when the speed limit would go up to 35 mph."

There is no school zone in front of the school because high school students are old enough to cross the street safely, Flansberg said. Browne disagrees. She thinks students would pay more attention crossing Saliman if they knew adults were concerned about their safety.

"My daughter (Katie, 17, a junior) said, 'Mom, kids are not getting any attention outside of that school. What are we teaching them about safety? If we focus on safety, maybe the kids would think somebody really cares about us and be more careful.'"

Browne shared several others concerns with Flansberg and Mitchell about traffic patterns in front of the school and the difficulty student drivers have crossing Saliman. The city is ultimately responsible for the establishment of school zones.

"Parents need to step up to the plate if they want any kind of change," Browne said. "It has to be a community thing. If they speak up more with their concerns, maybe we could push (a change) sooner than the summer.

"It's a can of worms."

n Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.