In hopes of protecting bicyclists’ and pedestrians’ safety, Muirlands Middle School parent Shauna Wills went to the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board this week with a pitch: Move the school bus zone.
In the end, the board gave unanimous support to recommending that the city of San Diego move the bus zone on Nautilus Street from west of Avenida Mirola to east.
In other words, the bus zone would move uphill, while parental morning drop-off and afternoon pickup of students would take place further downhill.
Wills presented the idea on behalf of Muirlands’ School Site Council and Site Governance Team. She is chairwoman of both committees.
The groups have explored several ways to ease safety concerns just outside Muirlands Middle School, but Wills keyed on the bus zone issue at T&T’s Jan. 20 meeting, saying the idea of relocating it came from other committee members.
“There are … two or three buses that drop off each morning, so that’s far fewer potential interactions with bikers and even cars if the bus zone is on the east side [of Avenida Mirola],” Wills told the La Jolla Light after the meeting.
A proposal from residents calls for moving the bus zone for Muirlands Middle School on Nautilus Street from the west side of Avenida Mirola to the east side. (Bing Maps and La Jolla Light)
She said having the school buses stop before the intersection will naturally slow traffic because of their size, which should help increase safety at the intersection.
Students dropped off by their parents would go from walking downhill to reach the campus to walking uphill, and the inverse is true for kids dropped off by bus. That, Wills said, makes it “a wash” in terms of student walking routes.
Other ideas that have been floated by Wills and her committee colleagues include a pedestrian “scramble” — a signal arrangement that allows people to cross simultaneously from all four corners of an intersection, securing ample space for pedestrians to pass. Another idea is putting a stop sign at Avenida Manana.
But relocating the bus zone was the only proposal on the T&T agenda Jan. 20.
During the meeting, Wills cited precedent for a scramble, citing one at the top of Nautilus Street near All Hallows Academy, The Evans School and San Diego French-American School.
Scrambles can be operated at particular times of day, lessening the impact during peak hours. But they come with a higher price tag than new paint or relocated signs. Estimates of the cost were not immediately available.
Wills said Circulate San Diego, a nonprofit that advocates “better transportation and more sustainable land-use choices,” has submitted requests on the committees’ behalf on the city’s Get It Done app about “a bunch of other problems” on Nautilus, such as sign deficiencies and overgrowth, in addition to the request for a pedestrian scramble.
Circulate San Diego Chief Executive Colin Parent confirmed that to the Light.
T&T Chairman Erik Gantzel said he had requested that the city evaluate the feasibility of a pedestrian scramble and relocation of the bus stop.
San Diego spokesman Anthony Santacroce said he didn’t have an answer as to how the city might proceed.
Wills told the Light that if the city determines there are better options, the committees are open to alternatives. ♦