A 300-foot guardrail has been installed at the Lewis-Arriola Elementary school to protect it from vehicles on adjacent U.S. Highway 491.
The safety measure was prompted after a Feb. 14 crash at the school that involved a northbound vehicle that drove off the highway, plowed through a school fence and struck the playground retaining wall.
In a stroke of good luck, students were not at school that Friday because it was a professional development day for teachers.
“It was divine intervention,” said Lewis-Arriola Principal Jim Parr. “If not for the development day, students could have been in the area of the crash. The new guardrail improves safety and is appreciated, but speed on the highway is still a big concern.”
The school and Colorado Department of Transportation split the $13,000 cost of the guardrail, which was installed on school property in November because it did not meet the CDOT criteria to be along the highway.
Parr and Montezuma-Cortez School District officials also have been lobbying CDOT to reduce the 65 mph speed limit on U.S. 491 at the school location.
“Ideally, we’d like to see a 45 mph school zone there during school hours with flashing speed limit signs,” said Jamie Haukeness, director of school safety for the district. Meetings with CDOT have been ongoing for several months.
Parr said the highway has seen increased traffic since the school was built in 1968, and that 65 mph limit on the highway is unnecessarily risky in the area of the school, located at the intersection of County Road U and U.S. 491 in Montezuma County. Another concern is that U.S. 491 is a designated route for hazardous materials, he said.
While a 45 mph school zone is preferred, any reduction in the speed limit would improve safety, Parr said.
“We want to be proactive and take preventative action for the safety of the school,” Parr said. “We’re asking for some latitude on reduced speed for a highway with heavy truck traffic that runs so close to a school. Parents are also in support of this.”
He said lower speeds would also improve safety of buses and parents turning off the highway onto Road U to access the school.
In an email, CDOT Regional Traffic and Safety Manager Julie Constan stated the guardrail was installed to provide additional protection for school property from run-off-the-road crashes. She said the Feb. 14 crash at the location is the only one reported in 20 years.
“In regards to the speed limit reduction request, we have been working with the school for six months pursuing every alternative possible,” Constan stated. “The setting of speed limits is regulated by state and federal statutes.”
There are school signs on U.S. 491 at the elementary for northbound and southbound traffic.
School officials point out that highway intersections south of the school have suggested reduced speed limits of 55 mph – the yellow signs – but not at the Road U intersection where the elementary school is located.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com