Would light signal safety on Rimrock?

Joe Gomez pushes for light at intersection near where 10-year-old girl was fatally struck

By AARON AUPPERLEE BARSTOW — As Aries Ortega, 11, walked her sister Isabella, 7, home from Crestline Elementary School on Thursday, a car blew by the crossing guard in the middle of the street. Aries turned around. “You see, like right there, that car didn’t even stop,” she said. Aries would never let Isabella walk home from school alone. The school is on Rimrock Road, which is too dangerous, she said. Others agree with her, including members of the City Council. The March 11 death of 10-year-old Kayla Crawford, who was killed when a truck hit her as she rode her bike on the 1400 block of East Rimrock, fed community concerns about safety on the road. At Monday’s Council meeting, Council member Joe Gomez asked the city to consider putting a traffic light at the corner of Muriel Drive and Rimrock Road in order to slow down traffic on Rimrock. “I’m really going to push this issue,” he said. The city recently submitted a report to the Council showing the collisions at the intersection of Muriel and Rimrock. Since 2000, 10 collisions have occurred there. Seven resulted in injuries and none in fatalities. However, Gomez does not think every collision at the intersection is in the report. He said that on the Fourth of July alone, fender benders happen at the intersection. His greatest concern, though, is the students who cross those streets every morning and afternoon. He thinks a traffic light would help. Crestline Principal David Finch said students new to Crestline are told not to even attempt to cross Rimrock Road unless there is a crossing guard present. He thinks a light would not only slow traffic down but also give kids a safer place to cross. “My concern is that people get going 50 miles per hour, and they’re not paying attention, and they don’t see the crossing-guard,” he said. “I think it’s always safer for kids to cross where there is a light.” City Council member Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre would feel safer with a light, too. She said she’s always nervous making turns at the intersection. When the Council looks at the general plan, she said, they consider where streets and lights should go. With anticipated future housing and the traffic that will bring, she said Rimrock is a spot that “definitely needs a street light.” Mayor Lawrence Dale serves on the street committee, a group he said will make a recommendation to the Planning Commission traffic committee concerning whether a light is needed. Gomez said the public safety committee would take up the issue at its next meeting as well. Cecila Nuñez hopes the light comes and that it comes soon. She picks up her son and a friend of his every day across Rimrock from the elementary school and worries about them crossing the street. “It gets ugly right here,” she said, pointing at Rimrock.