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Oasis schools: Cry for a crosswalk

3 min read

Eric Feichthaler is a former mayor for the city of Cape Coral. He is also a concerned parent of four children who attend the city’s charter school system.

Feichthaler is hoping to use both as a way of making kids who walk to and attend the Oasis Elementary and Middle schools a little safer by putting in a crosswalk in the middle of Oasis Boulevard between the two facilities.

But while this request hasn’t fallen on deaf ears, the city’s Public Works Department hasn’t made it happen, either.

Feichthaler said that as kids come and go from school, it’s nothing short of a madhouse because there are no signs except the ones that tell drivers to reduce speed as they approach.

“There’s no structure to it. There are people crossing everywhere. There are no signs except for there being a school ahead,” Feichthaler said. “There are no crosswalks or painted lines or direction, so it’s a free-for-all.”

There have been no incidents of children being hit by motor vehicles, but Feichthaler maintains it would make sense to bring some order and added safety to these pedestrians.

Feichthaler said there have been meetings between the city and school superintendent Nelson Stephenson regarding the crosswalk for about a year. About the only reason he sees for the city to not install one is that there cannot be a mid-block crossing, according to the Uniform Traffic Manual, because there is no street intersection.

Such an intersection exists at the high schools, but not in front of the elementary or middle schools. Feichthaler, an attorney, said there is precedent, even at the charter school level.

There is a mid-block crosswalk at Southeast 11th Street and Southeast 9th Avenue that connects the old and new city halls and there are at least four of them at Christa McAuliffe Charter Elementary, Feichthaler said.

“It makes sense because there are people crossing there and they want to give people some safety,” Feichthaler said. “Every other school I’m aware of have crosswalks in the street that serves it. It just makes common sense and the city has been reluctant to do it.”

Nobody from Public Works was available for comment Thursday. However, Connie Barron, the city’s spokesperson, said such crossings have always been deemed a safety concern. When the issue came up in 2015, the request came from parents and not the school itself.

“When you put in a crosswalk, you are encouraging crossing by pedestrians. At the time, the traffic staff said it didn’t warrant a crosswalk,” Barron said. “On the surface, it seems like a good idea, but when you look at it closely, there could be unintended consequences.”

Percedes Zambrano, Public Works planning manager, has had running dialogue with Feichthaler on the matter for nearly two years. In a March 3, 2015 e-mail, she said such a crosswalk would also need “associated devices such as flashing lights, rumble strips, stop signs, speed tables and the like.”

Zambrano said that the use of a safety resource officer to direct pedestrian and cyclists was appropriate. Feichthaler argued that children will try to access the campus at all times and that an officer generally would not be present.

Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Mr. Feichthaler has four children in the city’s charter school system.