Mr. Jay Wind, President
Arlington Heights Civic Association
jay.wind@att.net
Dear Jay:
Thank you for your email on behalf of the Arlington Heights Civic Association, requesting a Crossing Guard be assigned to the Thomas Jefferson Middle School (TJ). I appreciate and share your concern for the safety and wellbeing of the students at TJ.
Please find
enclosed a copy of the report I requested from the County Manager
on this issue. I understand that Captain Austin discussed
the Police Department's safety prevention plans with you, which
will include direct communication between school officials and
students regarding pedestrian safety, as well as other important
safety measures. Hopefully,
these efforts will deter any future accidents from occurring and
provide students with a safe environment in which to travel
safely to and from their school.
In addition, the County is committed to assigning Crossing Guards at all middle schools in Arlington by the next school year, beginning September 2001. The Crossing Guard assigned to TJ will be located on South 2nd Street at Old Glebe Road. Presently the Police Department is in the process of recruiting candidates for these Crossing Guard positions.
Again, thank you for bringing the Arlington Heights Civic Association's concerns to the Board's attention. By the way, I thought you would like to know Anh is home and in therapy for at least the next six months. Hopefully, with time, he will fully recuperate from the injuries he sustained.
Sincerely,
/s/
Jay Fisette
Chairman
ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA
INTERDEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM
May 4, 2001
TO: Jay Fisette, Chairman, Arlington County Board
FROM: Ron Carlee, Acting County Manager
SUBJECT: 102294/2003122 and Voicemail Gram Response
On Monday, April 23, 2001, at approximately 1623 hours, an eleven-year-old male ran across South 2nd Street from behind a parked vehicle and was struck by a vehicle proceeding eastbound. The juvenile sustained a skull fracture and was transported to Children's Hospital via helicopter. Various witnesses at the scene reported that the juvenile did not look before entering the street. The striking vehicle was travelling approximately twenty miles per hour in a twenty-five mile per hour zone.
Mr. Jay Wind, President of the Arlington Heights Civic Association, has subsequently requested that a crossing guard be immediately assigned to the area of South Second Street and Old Glebe Road. A crossing guard at S. 2nd and Old Glebe Road would not have prevented this accident. The accident occurred in the middle of the block and not at the intersection. In addition, the time of the accident was at 4:23 p.m. The school crossing guard would have been posted during the school release time of 2:30 to 3:00 p.m.
The principal and administration of Thomas Jefferson School have been apprised of the circumstances of the accident. School personnel have prepared a letter, which will be distributed to the student body addressing pedestrian safety concerns. SRO Daniel Murphy, who is assigned to Thomas Jefferson School, will conduct team meeting with students. The Special Operations Section in tandem with the Third District will conduct an enforcement detail adjacent to Thomas Jefferson School in the mornings and afternoons monitoring traffic and pedestrian issues.
Captain Austin of the Special
Operations Section has spoken with Mr. Wind concerning the
circumstances of the accident and current and future preventative
efforts by the Police Department. It was brought to Mr. Wind's
attention that even if a crossing guard had been assigned to the
aforementioned intersection, the crossing guard would not have
been present at the time of the accident. Captain Austin
has reported that Mr. Wind was satisfied with our response to
him.
ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2001 13:47:25 -0500
From: Daniel Worke" <Dworke@co.arlington.va.us>
To: Jay Wind <jay.wind@att.net>
CC: Joseph Durkee <Jdurke@co.arlington.va.us>, Terry Bellamy <Tbella@co.arlington.va.us>
Mr. Wind,
We received the approved traffic signal plan for this project from VDOT by the middle of January.
The question now is to get the funding and permit from VDOT for us to proceed the construction work on the State Road.
I spoke with VDOT permit section today and I was told it will take 30 to 35 days to get the construction permit.
With this time frame in mind, I do not expect starting the
project before middle of March.
Once we get the funding and permit from VDOT, we are ready to
start the construction.
Let me know should you have any questions. Thanks.
Regards,
Daniel Worke
Arlington County
See also our reminder to the County Manager of the outstanding projects in our neighborhood.