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Schools

Crosswalk Closing Draws Protests From Some Residents

The city is set to remove a crosswalk at a dangerous intersection in front of Hidden Hills Elementary School, but some say the move could only make matters worse.

A traffic-choked crosswalk by Hidden Hills Elementary School that many residents have for years considered dangerous will be removed next week.

Since 2008, the San Ramon Valley School District has received several complaints from parents calling the crosswalk at the corner of Craiglee and Harcourt ways hazardous. But now residents are complaining that they weren't told about the removal and some parents say that removing the crosswalk could make the street even more dangerous.

In 2009, a city and school district collaboration called the San Ramon Safe Routes to School Program, suggested the crosswalk be removed for the 2009-10 school year.

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The crosswalk has been problematic because of its location at the entrance to the school parking lot. When picking up their children, many parents park against the right side curb before the crosswalk blocking the right lane and sometimes blocking the crosswalk. Drivers who have already picked up their children or who wish to turn into the school parking lot to do so are forced around into the left lane.

According to parent complaints, those left lane motorists cannot see pedestrians crossing from the right curb to the left because the cars parked on the right block their view.

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It is primarily these drivers who have been involved in several reported near-collisions with those using the crosswalk.

According to their 2009 report, the city-school district committee hopes the removal of the crosswalk will encourage all pedestrians to use a different crosswalk at the intersection of Harcourt and Bandol ways, which has an adult crossing guard.

While all parties agree that crossing the street at Craiglee and Harcourt ways is dangerous, they do not agree on the solution.

Signs announcing the crosswalks removal have been posted since July, but residents of nearby subdivision Wyngate are saying that they were not warned soon enough.

Many of those residents have protested to Hidden Hills Elementary and the city about the removal because they say that school children and their parents are not the only people who use the crosswalk. Removing it would force them to use the crosswalk at Bandol Way or another crossing.

Many residents and parents have also said that removing the crosswalk is not the answer. They say that people will still cross at the dangerous intersection so removing the crosswalk will only make it more dangerous.

Concerned parent and mother of two children who have attended Hidden Hillside Elementary, Patch parenting columnist Julie Knight wrote an article last June about what she calls the "killer crossing."

"My biggest concern now is for the kids who may choose to cross at Killer Crossing without a crosswalk, either out of habit, or because it's a faster route. Once the painted yellow lines go away, Killer Crossing will be far more dangerous than ever."

Several calls to the city and school district were not returned.

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