To make it safe to walk to and from Westchester Elementary School, parents say they want a crosswalk and other traffic calming safety measures added to Old Frederick Road near the Catonsville school.
"I think it would help to put some safety precautions in place," said Michele McFarland, 43, of the Westchester Parent Teacher Association. "Crossing Old Frederick Road safely is very difficult."
McFarland, who lives on Devere Lane, said she walks her son, a third-grader at Westchester Elementary to school in the morning. Her daughter, a sixth-grader at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School, takes a bus each morning to Pikesville from Westchester.
McFarland said traffic backs up during pick-up and drop-off times in the morning and afternoon at the school, which makes crossing the road particularly unsafe during those times.
"For maybe about 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon, it gets really crazy," said Debbie Marini, 48, who has lived on Old Frederick Road across from the school since 1993. "The biggest concern I have is that cars are driving in the wrong direction."
Backed up traffic between the school and Edmondson Avenue causes impatient drivers and buses to drive on the wrong side of the road to bypass traffic, McFarland said.
"It's rare that a driver will stop to allow a pedestrian to cross the street," McFarland said. "Over time, with the traffic increasing, it has gotten worse over the past year."
Marinihas three children, one who takes the bus to Sudbrook Middle from Westchester and said she attributes the increase in traffic to older people moving out of their homes and young families with children moving in.
A speed camera was added to Old Frederick Road in front of the school in 2013. However, parents say it isn't enough.
"I know that the data will show that the speed camera has showed that it has slowed traffic down, that is something that I worked with the community on to implement and I think it has made a huge difference," said 1st District Councilman Tom Quirk, who represents Catonsville.
Still, Quirk said he wants to see a crosswalk added to the road.
"I'm supportive of the community's position and I will be meeting with some of the leaders from this group and Baltimore County traffic engineers to see if we can find a solution," Quirk said.
There are crosswalks at or near all other elementary schools in the area including: Catonsville, Hillcrest, Woodbridge, Westowne, Johnnycake and Edmondson Heights. At those crosswalks, a crossing guard is provided to assist children across the street.
Jessica Linzmeier, a parent of two children at the school, wrote an email to Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz expressing concern about the safety of children crossing Old Frederick Road.
"We purchased a house in the Westchester Elementary neighborhood and were shocked to discover that it is virtually impossible to walk our children, due to concerns over speeding traffic, lack of sidewalks/crosswalks or traffic calming measures in front of our school," Linzmeier wrote.
Ed Reed, a traffic inspector with Baltimore County Traffic Engineering, responded in an email, "We contacted the school this morning and were informed that there are less than 10 actual 'walkers', and most of those do not even cross Old Frederick Road.This is far less than the required number of pedestrians to warrant a marked crossing."
Westchester's principal Marguerite Decrispino could not be reached for comment.
In the email, Reed said that they found no pedestrian related issues in the area.
Reed said in the email that a review of police records over the past seven years showed an "excellent safety record," with one reported accident of a vehicle hitting a fence. There were no injuries, he said.
However, he did find issues with, "the driving and parking/stopping behaviors of the parents during drop off and pick up times," which he said should be addressed by the school and police.
The school does have a staff member who directs vehicular traffic and buses.
Quirk said the county still has a lot of work to do when it comes to making communities walkable.
"I think that some of the speed camera money should be earmarked for crosswalks," said Quirk, who has supported measures to improve bikeability and walkability in his district.
"I don't think Baltimore County policy and our process with sidewalks around schools are where they should be, and I hope we can do what we can, from a county perspective, to ensure the safety of our community and make our communities more walkable," he said.