Agoura Hills approves crossing guard for T.O. Boulevard, Lake Lindero Drive

By Stephanie Bertholdo

bertholdo@theacorn.com

The Agoura Hills City Council last week approved hiring a crossing guard for the intersection of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Lake Lindero Drive for the remainder of this school year. City officials said that they would reevaluate the need to continue employing the crossing guard next year after other alternatives are explored.

The cost of a crossing guard is estimated at $4,500 for the rest of the year. A crossing guard for a full school year costs about $10,000.

The push for a crossing guard came from six-month Agoura Hills resident Lynn Rosenblum, who rallied support from parents, city officials, school board members and businesses after she decided that Thousand Oaks Boulevard was too dangerous for her children to cross on their own.

The busy intersection is traveled every weekday by children who attend Yerba Buena Elementary School and Lindero Canyon Middle School.

Jim Thorsen, director of public works, conducted a study to determine the amount of vehicle traffic and whether it conflicts with children walking to school. According to Thorsen’s report, "The study included all four approaches to the intersection but was concentrated on the number of children crossing Thousand Oaks Boulevard and the number of vehicles turning left or right through the crosswalks during the green and ‘walk’ signal phases."

Children use the crosswalk between 7 and 9 a.m. when they’re going to school and then again between 2 and 4 p.m. to return home. The west crosswalk was determined to be the busiest for both children crossing and vehicle turns.

Twenty-one students were counted in the morning using the west crosswalk with 313 cars turning left or right through the crosswalk per hour. In the afternoon, results were similar, but the count of children walking home was higher at 62 vs. a lower vehicle count at 309 per hour.

On the easterly crosswalk, only 11 children crossed in the morning hours and 170 cars were counted turning left or right. After school, the results at the east crosswalk were less—13 students crossing the street with 140 cars counted.

While the State Traffic Manual clearly outlines accepted criteria for hiring crossing guards, the intersection posed mixed results, including the requirement of at least 40 children crossing the street during both the school arrival and dismissal periods. However, the guidelines were met with the minimum of 300 cars turning through the west crosswalk.

"As you can see, the turning vehicle criteria through the west crosswalk are satisfied," Thorsen said. "The amount of school-age pedestrians exceeds the criteria level during the afternoon dismissal period."

Thorsen added in his report that flexibility is permitted with crossing guard criteria. He noted that in the city of Thousand Oaks and in L.A. County, pedestrian criteria was dropped to 20 children walking during the morning and afternoon hours.

Rosenblum wouldn’t allow her children to walk to school because of her perceptions about hazardous traffic. She addressed council members in January and offered a petition that was signed by about 100 residents. To accentuate her point, she volunteered as a crossing guard before and after school. She said she witnessed screeching tires, distracted motorists talking on cell phones and other traffic-related problems.

Not all council members were happy to spend money on the problem. City Councilman Jeff Reinhardt described it as "a thorny issue." He added that no child has ever been injured in the intersection and that the city cannot continue to throw money at problems, especially when the state is cutting funds to cities.

Reinhardt and other council members will investigate other measures for the next school year, including the possibility of lower speed limits, flashing lights, countdown timers, volunteer crossing guards, better signage and raised walkways, to name just a few.

Agoura Hills Mayor Dan Kuperberg said, "Let’s just see how it works."

Rosenblum told council members that she’s never seen "such insane drivers in my life" as she has on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

"They drive very fast, it’s very scary and (the drivers) are very focused on their own agenda," she said.

A crossing guard was on the job last Monday.