Safer crossings sought at Smith Valley

As far as Laili Komenda knows, no Smith Valley student has ever been struck by a car while crossing the street by the school. But the new principal worries it’s only a matter of time before an accident happens.

Some children cross U.S. 2 to reach the school. Others get dropped off at the convenience store across the street and must cross Batavia Lane to get to Smith Valley School.

There are crossing guards in place to help children get across the roads, but Komenda worries those guards aren’t enough to keep students safe.

“I think of those ladies on foggy mornings with ice on the road — I just think it’s a very scary endeavor,” she said.

Drivers are “going 60 miles an hour up to the edge of the playground” on U.S. 2, Komenda said. When the speed limit drops during school hours, it only slows to 45 mph.

“Every other school zone is 25, 35 [mph]. It’s pretty dangerous, I think,” she said.

Crossing Batavia Lane is no less dangerous, she said. As evidence, she cited a recent accident at the intersection that sent a woman and two children to the hospital.

The accident happened on a Friday, but no children were in school that day. A van was attempting to turn right onto Batavia from U.S. 2 when a pickup rear-ended it, Komenda said.

“The pickup behind them ran into the back of them and just threw them forward into the teachers’ parking lot. The pickup itself was in the crossing zone,” she said.

Komenda and another woman ended up helping the volunteer emergency responders at the accident scene. They held up “slow” signs to encourage drivers to reduce their speeds, but apparently, drivers didn’t realize how slow they should have been going, she said.

“They were still going 45. Don’t you understand that ‘slow’ means ‘crawl’?” Komenda said.

The number of kids who cross the street at the school varies from day to day, and now that the weather has turned chilly, Komenda anticipates it will drop off considerably. But several kids will need to cross all winter long — and with dark, foggy, icy mornings not far away, Komenda is concerned for their safety.

Ideally, she would like a traffic light at the intersection. She used as an example Evergreen Junior High, which has traffic lights at the intersection of U.S. 2 and West Evergreen.

“In Evergreen ... the crossing guard is supporting a stoplight,” Komenda said. “To not even have a light — oh my gosh.”

Studying the intersection at U.S. 2 and Batavia is on the Montana Department of Transportation’s docket, said James Freyholtz, Kalispell area traffic engineer. But he said he didn’t know when the department would conduct the study.

“We have had some people leave the study section and go onto Helena, so stuff might be further out than we previously thought,” he said. “I’m assuming probably sometime next year, but I’m not sure on that.”

The department will study whether the intersection needs any improvements, including traffic signals, turn lanes or extra signs.

In the meantime, Smith Valley School is doing what it can to keep kids safe.

The school recently won a $525 Roundup for Safety Grant from Flathead Electric Cooperative.

That money will pay for headsets for the crossing guards, allowing them to stay in constant communication on dark mornings. The school also plans to buy more visible vests for its crossing guards, possibly garments that reflect or flash, Komenda said, and better signs.

“Our signs are just handheld signs. One says ‘slow’ on one side, ‘stop’ on the other. [The crossing guard] can’t hold it above her head because then she’ll just be hit slowly. She has to hold it against her body,” Komenda said.

The new signs will say “stop” on both sides and will have a longer pole to improve visibility.

But drivers have to do their part.

Although new to the school, Komenda has heard stories of a former employee who, while attempting to help students cross the street, got so frustrated with cars failing to slow down that she hurled her sign at one vehicle.

It’s a frustration Komenda can sympathize with, after helping at the accident a few weeks ago.

“I felt like throwing a sign at people,” she said.

She’s hopeful that Smith Valley’s new purchases will help improve safety until the transportation department can — she hopes — make improvements to the intersection.

“We’re making it as safe as we can,” she said. “We’ve done a great job of having nobody hurt yet, but we don’t want to look back and say, ‘Oh, we should have.’”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.