Swampscott Traffic Pattern Shift To Greet New School Year

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott school and officials are asking for drivers to slow down and requesting patience among parents and residents in the neighborhoods surrounding the Hadley and Blaney schools as traffic pattern changes are implemented for the additional students attending those schools while the new Stanley Elementary School is under construction.

Police are advising residents that there will be increased traffic in the area of the Hadley School and former Hathaway School at 50 Blaney Street where Stanley students will attend for the expected two years of construction.

Swampscott police, fire, schools and town officials are launching the "Slow Down For School" campaign with an increased police presence and enforcement of speeding, distracted driving and crosswalk violations.

"Our presence is of the utmost importance to ensure that we have safety out there," Swampscott Police Chief Ruben Quesada told the Select Board at its Aug. 3 meeting. "And you have our commitment that we will be out there and we will be out in force."

Police have set up a series of information sessions for those with questions about the new drop-off and pick-up patterns near the schools. School Resource Officer Brian Wilson and newly appointed Traffic Officer Jon Loyte will hold multiple sessions beginning on Sunday at the Farmer's Market from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Town Hall lawn.

Officers Wilson and Loyte will also be in the community room of the Swampscott Police Station on Humphrey Street on Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Questions can also be sent to bwilson@swampscottpolice.com or jloyte@swampscottpolice.com.

"I take this as an opportunity for us," Quesada said. "This is an opportunity where we can partner with the community. We can maybe complete some fun activities where we can interact with the children. Maybe we can have a bicycle officer riding with our kids who are walking to school, with our parents who are walking to school.

"That's what I talk about when I talk about community engagement. You have our full commitment that we will partner with all of our collaborators. We will listen to the community. But we will always take safety as our No. 1 concern."

The new traffic pattern near the schools can be seen here:

Police are asking parents to have their students walk to school whenever possible to ease congestion on the nearby roads.

Officials are also soliciting help from neighbors, parent-teacher organizations and commuters to be the "eyes and ears" for any safety concerns and to contact the police department with any issues that arise.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)