Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Tonya Papanikolas Reporting The Ogden school district recently redrew its boundaries to accommodate the closure of three elementary schools.
Starting next year, this means some kids will have to walk further to school. But some parents are concerned about how safe that will really be.
This man is not concerned about the distance his daughter will be walking. But he IS upset at the safety measures like crosswalks that are in many places are nonexistent right now.
Ideally, a child's route to school includes crossing guards and a lot of crosswalks. But what if the safest way to walk to school doesn't have any of that?
John Moon, Concerned Parent: I walk her to school because I'm scared to death that something is gonna happen on the way."
Right now, John Moon walks his daughter Jeana about 300 yards to school. But next year, boundary changes mean she'll be walking a mile to her new school. And the path with the least amount of traffic has very few sidewalks.
John Moon: "I couldn't find a path that did have a great deal of sidewalks."
Sometimes the sidewalks that ARE present end abruptly. This one comes very close to a canal and ditch. And the problem isn't unique to just one school.
John Moon: "I think the city needs to address it. They need to do something about it. There's a lot of Ogden that doesn't have sidewalks."
Jeana walks on the inside of the road... but she still knows the dangers.
Jeana Moon, Scared About Walking to School: "I'm worried about a car coming by and not seeing that there's a kid right there - and running over the kid."
John Moon: We go this way at this point, so no crosswalk."
Moon says this route also needs ten crosswalks for the children.
John Moon: On this route to school, there's only one crosswalk - and that's right in front of the school."
The Ogden school district says it asked for parent concerns before redrawing the boundaries.
Conna Corby Ogden School District Spokeswoman "Donna Corby: Our number one concern for the Ogden school district was safety."
The input they received showed parents were worried about:
Ogden Parent Concerns:
-high speed limits
-lack of signs, stop signs and lights
-lack of crossing guards
-lack of sidewalks
The school district says it's now taking these issues to the city and police department.
Donna Corby: "The 3 of us all working together, we hope we can solve these safety concerns for our parents because it's very important."
We spoke to a traffic engineer from Ogden today. He said by next fall, it's very possible the city will add more sidewalks and crosswalks and crossing guards around many of the schools.
