‘When children are present’ means a crowd
In recent years, signs marking school zones and the hours during which they’re in effect have been mostly replaced by flashing signs. But some of the older signs still exist, and they tend to cause some confusion.
Fred says: We are confused about signs that say, for instance, “School zone, speed limit 15 mph, when children are present.” There are no times listed. Does that mean any time of day or night, any day of the week? What constitutes children being present?
Good question. Do you need to hit on the brakes if children are playing soccer in a fenced-in schoolyard on a Saturday morning?
The answer is no, the school zones are not enforced on weekends, said Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Barbara Morgan. During the week, flashing signs are turned on or off depending on when school starts or ends. When it comes to the signs like the ones Fred referenced, the presence of children would constitute a crowd of youngsters seen on the school grounds during recess or walking to and from school in the morning or afternoons.
If you happen to see a couple of kids present say, at 5 p.m., when school is obviously out, the zones are not being enforced.
“Common sense prevails,” Morgan said.
Mike doesn’t like his view: We live in Panorama Towers on Dean Martin Drive. On our west and south sides we were surrounded by a very large bus facility, stretching from Harmon to Tomkins. Over the weekend, the entire site was vacated. Do you know anything about this change and, of greater significance, the potential future of this neighboring property?
Mike, that was a Regional Transportation Commission facility. But, lucky for you and probably a lot of other concerned residents in Panorama Towers, the RTC outgrew that property. It recently opened its new $75 million facility on Sunset Road. That maintenance center is expected to service 300 transit vehicles each day.
The RTC was leasing the land adjacent to your condominiums, and that lease will run out in December. But the big question that now looms is who your new neighbors will be.
Don is curious about who designs the sound walls lining our highways: Why do sound walls have different patterns, some southwest, some just simple patterns. Who decides what the design is?
When the state Transportation Department builds new walls, it presents three patterns to stakeholders and holds public meetings to hear residents’ input. The patterns are selected from the state’s Landscape and Aesthetics Plan. They are typically uniform through each section of a corridor.
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