Parents concerned about 'dangerous' Thunder Ridge intersections - East Idaho News
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Parents concerned about ‘dangerous’ Thunder Ridge intersections

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IDAHO FALLS — Some parents are concerned someone is going to get killed at a busy Thunder Ridge High School intersection.

As students attend their first year at the new Thunder Ridge High School, parents are noticing an issue. No crosswalks, caution signs or school zone speed reductions exist along Crowley Road, also known as 45th East. Crowley Road is a 40 mph zone frequented by semi-trucks and other large vehicles.

“There’s nowhere for the kids to cross,” Brooke Barker, whose daughter attends Thunder Ridge, told EastIdahoNews.com. “Normally when somebody sees kids trying to cross, they would stop, but they don’t. Nobody stops. There are kids just standing on the corner waiting and waiting and waiting to cross.”

The problematic intersections are Crowley Road and Greenwillow Lane, Crowley Road and Ladino Drive, and First Street and Crowley Road.

First Street and Crowley Road is the only intersection with a four-way stop but still doesn’t have a crosswalk. And there aren’t sidewalks for students to use anywhere along Crowley Road or First Street. Students who walk or ride bikes to school must walk along the edge of the road with some areas that have little to no shoulder.

“It’s extremely important that we get this taken care of before someone gets hurt.”

Kristine Davenport has two children who attend Thunder Ridge, a freshman and a junior.

“For the first week of school, they would ride bikes,” Davenport said. “But once we realized how dangerous it was crossing 45th (Crowley Road), and that no school zone was planned, I now drive them in the morning.”

RELATED: First look inside the new Thunder Ridge High School

Bonneville County Assistant Public Works Director Lance Bates said the county’s only plan is to install a pedestrian-activated crosswalk and caution light at the intersection of Crowley Road and Ladino Drive. He didn’t have an estimated time frame for when that will happen but did say the equipment has been ordered.

“What we’re doing may not be exactly what everybody out there is asking for,” Bates said.

Not only is that not the intersection Barker believes is the real problem, but Ladino Drive ends in a dead-end with no access to the high school. It appears a sidewalk may be under construction for pedestrians to cross next to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seminary building, gaining access to the school that way.

Road Intersection

Even if pedestrian students will eventually be able to access the school through Ladino Drive, that does nothing to address the fact Crowley Road has no sidewalks or the congestion at Crowley Road and Greenwillow Lane where Thunder Ridge’s main entrance road is located.

When the main entrance road was built, Crowley Road was widened slightly to accommodate a left turn lane in the middle of the southbound lane. Vehicles headed south must move to the edge of the road to avoid the left-turn lane. The problem is only 12 feet of space is available between the left-turn lane and a drop-off into a ditch.

RELATED: Road work around new high school focuses on turn lanes

“The school district is doing whatever we can do to work with the county. The sad reality of the county is they rely heavily on state and federal grants,” John Pymm, Bonneville Joint School District 93’s director of facilities and operations, previously told EastIdahoNews.com.

While observing traffic at the intersection, EastIdahoNews.com discovered a good number of vehicles only barely moved over to avoid the turn lane. Cars stopped in the turn lane came very close to being sideswiped by vehicles traveling at 40 mph.

“We need flashing lights, crosswalks and a speed limit reduction to 20 mph,” Davenport said. “This should have been addressed before the school year began. So now it’s extremely important that we get this taken care of before someone gets hurt.”

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