Washington State Department of Transportation contractor crews built a new crosswalk crossing over NE 117th Ave/State Route 503 in Vancouver Washington to ensure the safety of students and pedestrians crossing over State Route 503. The crosswalk was built due to a vehicle collision that injured a 14-year-old student crossing State Route 503.
Prairie High School finally got a new crosswalk crossing over State Route 503. It’s been a year since the collision happened between the student and the vehicle, and now we have a crosswalk. A lot of students are happy now that we have the crosswalk, and some others don’t care. “It’s really nice now that we have a crosswalk, it was about time for one.” Said, Aiden Montgomery. Was the new crosswalk even necessary though? From the research, the project for our crosswalk cost 1.1 million dollars, that’s a lot of money for a minor problem, especially since our situation has many other choices for solutions.
Building a new crosswalk wasn’t a bad idea though. “The crosswalk was a great idea, it made my trip home more efficient.” Said, Andrey Robu Jr. Even with the new crosswalk, some students will still jay-walk for whatever reason. Also, will the crosswalk even ensure the safety of students and pedestrians? Aiden said, “If our students were just mature enough to not jay-walk and actually use the crosswalk, then yes safety would be ensured.” Having a new crosswalk though does not mean there won’t be any stupid and reckless drivers.
With our new crosswalk, there is also one major flaw with it. “State Route 503 will definitely get busier, especially after school hours.” Said Aiden. People who drive through State Route 503 daily definitely won’t be happy with the new crosswalk, especially the people who are trying to get to work on time. Even in this situation, there is still an upside to this. “Drivers will hopefully start paying more attention to the road and the pedestrians crossing over State Route 503.” Said Andrey. Overall, the purpose of our crosswalk is to prevent pedestrians and students from jaywalking.
