The city of Hollister pulled up the safety rumble strips on the
segment of Nash Road that runs through San Benito High School
Wednesday, after hearing reports of motorists going around them and
swerving into the opposite lane.
Hollister – The city of Hollister pulled up the safety rumble strips on the segment of Nash Road that runs through San Benito High School Wednesday, after hearing reports of motorists going around them and swerving into the opposite lane.
The strips, which create bumps in the road in an attempt to caution drivers of student/pedestrian crossing, will be replaced with new ones that stretch across the entire street. Clay Lee, community services director of the city, said the engineering department decided the strips had to be replaced, and new bumps will soon be installed that reach all the way across the street, instead of in just one lane.
“This way, there will be no way of getting around them,” Lee said.
SBHS Board President Shelley Donati witnessed a car go around the rumble strips last Wednesday, and later on that evening, she brought it up at the district board meeting.
“We were discussing pedestrian safety and we talked about it,” Donati said. “It’s something that we’re constantly looking at and working with the city on.”
Board member Judith Rider said the safety of the students that cross Nash Road on a daily basis is a huge concern for the district, and that they’ve thought of every precaution they could.
“We’ve talked about everything,” she said. “I’m very concerned about the safety of the students. I just wish we could close the street during school hours. It would make everything so much easier.”
The rumble strips are part of a number of new crosswalk safety signs and construction the city and the school have worked on together. Since the opening of the new side of campus, located on the corner of West Street and Nash Road, SBHS and the city have put up new speed limit signs, added additional green and yellow signs warning drivers of crosswalks, made the stretch of road between Monterey and West streets a no parking zone and increased visibility to the cross walks with hash marks. Slater said thousands of students cross Nash Road on a daily basis, but the exact number is too tough to call.
“We have 2,768 students at this school and my guess is some of those students may cross the road up to four times a day,” she said.
Christine Tognetti covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330, or ct*******@fr***********.com.
