Safer Walk to School Coming For Timber Ridge, Horizon Students

The walk to school is getting a bit safer for students at and schools.

Portable stop signs will soon slow traffic at the crossing at Northwest 100th Street and Windsor Parkway at Horizon and on Northwest 54th Avenue at Timber Ridge.

On Feb. 6, the Johnston City Council adopted an ordinance to permit the signs.

The signs, which will be purchased by the school district, will be set out and taken down by school officials before and after school. The length of time the signs are present is up to the school.

A similar sign is already in use at .

Police and Parents Work Together

Chief Bill Vaughn worked with a group of parents and school officials to make the portable signs a reality.

"It was a collaboration, we had some concerned parents, both in Timber Ridge area and Horizon area," Vaughn said. "Then, apart from concern, there was an ongoing call of people driving above the posted speed limit in those areas."

Vaughn said through collaboration with parents, it created the opportunity to talk with school officials and the Urbandale Police Department about the safety of the Timber Ridge school crossing.

Lisa Fergus, a Horizon parent, worked with Vaughn on the initiative.

"My first goal was just more safety for the kids," Fergus said. "We live two blocks from the school and don't feel safe sending them because it's so busy."

Fergus' daughters, Lauren, a fifth-grader, and Julia, a third-grader, are driven to school each day to bypass walking on busy 100th Street.

"It seemed like a no-brainer to slow the traffic down in front of the school," she said.

One Parent Can Make a Difference

Fergus first called in October after hearing other parents hadn't gotten far on the issue.

"My daughter (Lauren) is the student council president," she said. "This seemed like a good thing to teach her, show her that one person can make a difference, too."

Vaughn said that if requests at other schools or locations come in, the department would use sensitivity in handling them.

"We'll see what the best approach is to handling them," he said.

In the meantime, Fergus is just waiting for spring to come and the opportunity for her girls to walk to school.