A
team of four Francis Howell Middle School teenagers is trying
to convince city officials in O'Fallon, MO, to upgrade a
pedestrian crossing on a busy city street.
Eighth-graders Ryan Kustec, Kevin Grabbe, Zach Nicewarner
and Dylan Salsman, all residents of O'Fallon, took on the
civics project as a part of teacher Molly Lavictoire's advanced
social studies class.
Ryan
Kustec |
Fourteen-year-old Dylan admits, in the beginning, team
members weren't overly optimistic that they could convince
the city government to make any change.
He said, "When we started, I figured nobody would listen.
But, when two city employees came to talk with us, I was
surprised. That's when I realized that they cared."
Last month, the boys made a report on their work at project
fair put on by the Citizenship Education Clearing House
(CECH) program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).
Kevin
Grabbe |
CECH helps schools in the metro-St. Louis area gets students
involved in projects that bring them in touch with local
government agencies and officials.
(Young
Saint Louis.com has covered CECH projects for several
years. This year, we've done two stories. In addition to
the O'Fallon project, also in this edition you can learn
about Webster Groves kids' efforts to establish a unique
dog park.)
Zach
Nicewarner |
This year's Francis Howell Middle team's "traffic safety"
project is actually following in the wake of success by
another FH Middle team that got the city to improve pedestrian
safety right near the school.
In 2007, the City of O'Fallon built a protected crossing
on O'Fallon Rd. right along the side of the school. In that
case, the students who lobbied for the safety improvement
didn't actually see the fruits of their labor until the
following school year.
Dylan
Salsman |
They had gone on to high school before the city got the
new crosswalk actually constructed. (To read that story,
click on Past
Stories and go to the October,
2007, edition.)
Thirteen-year-old Ryan Kustec from this year's traffic
team said one of the things he learned so far is that making
changes in city government "is slow."
He said, "At first, I didn't even know if the city officials
got what we were proposing."
Fourteen-year-old Kevin Grabbe said, "But, after awhile,
we felt the attitudes of the city officials changed and
they 'got it.'"
During the negotiations about the pedestrian crossing,
the kids also learned they had to be flexible about what
they were asking.
Fourteen-year-old Zach Nicewarner said their first proposal
included moving a current traffic light and making a four-way
stop at a nearby intersection.
However, he said the city streets employees convinced them
such a change wouldn't be possible because the re-located
traffic light would be too close to a "blind curve" bend
in O'Fallon Dr.
That would mean motorists on O'Fallon wouldn't have enough
line-of-sight warning of the traffic signal.
That's when the city officials suggested the traffic-island
design. Such a traffic island would give pedestrians more
protection. Also, the island would be a natural "slowing
agent" because the island would restrict the width of the
traffic lanes.
After the kids made their proposal to the city, O'Fallon
officials conducted a traffic count and speed survey at
the site of the proposed traffic island.
The survey showed over 26,000 vehicles passed the site
in a four-day period.
Also, vehicle speed far exceeded the posted speed limit
of 35 mph.
The
area of O'Fallon Road where a traffic island would
be placed |
The survey showed northbound vehicles averaged 52 mph while
southbound traffic averaged 48 mph. That means the average
vehicle was running at 50 per cent higher than the posted
limit.
For the four boys who did the study, their work is nearly
over, since they'll be moving to high school quite soon.
Dylan Salsman said the city officials said it probably
would be six months before any construction of a new safety
island would be finished. But, if the city finally agrees
with the kids' safety proposal, they will have a constant
reminder of their effort as they drive by that area in the
future.
And the kids will have had some hands-on experience on
what it takes to get the city government to act on an improvement
idea from the public.
Before the interviews with city officials, the boys had
to gather information to support their idea that a problem
existed. They also had to discuss among themselves what
they wanted to propose.
Then, after an initial interview, they had to revise their
proposal because of the problem of moving the traffic signal.
And, they had to learn patience.
All of the boys said they wanted to go to college but none
of them wanted a career in city government.
Ryan said he plans to become a lawyer while Kevin wants
to be either a mechanical engineer or a graphic artist.
Dylan said he wants to be a sports journalist.
Zach said he wanted to go to the Berkley College of Music
in Maryland and become either a professional musician or
a teacher of music.
