ARLINGTON -- A proposed $9.2 million road project to ease congestion near three Mansfield district schools in southwest Arlington cannot come soon enough for neighbors -- and school bus drivers.
For the second time in a month, on Wednesday a Mansfield school bus loaded with students slipped partially into a drainage ditch at Russell and Calender roads. No one was injured either time.The second accident came just 12 hours after a meeting where Arlington city officials outlined street improvement plans to about 85 residents concerned about traffic on the narrow roads around the schools.The city's plan to start construction in 2014 hasn't gone over well."The biggest issue we have is people speeding -- people in a hurry," said Robert Wolbers, who lives across Ledbetter Road from Carol Holt Elementary. His wife walks their 11-year-old son across the road to school."It's like taking your life into your own hands. People won't stop," Wolbers said.Growth around the three schools -- T.A. Howard Middle School, Cross Timbers Intermediate School and the newest, Holt -- has outpaced the capacity of the roads. Ledbetter, Curry, Russell and Calender roads were once country roads -- two lanes, narrow and lined with bar ditches."Those roads were never envisioned to carry the amount of traffic that we have out there now," said Councilwoman Sheri Capehart, who represents District 2 in southwest Arlington.Wednesday morning, a southbound school bus on Calender attempted to turn west onto Russell, but a car on Russell had stopped too close to the intersection for the bus to swing wide enough to clear the corner.The driver tried to make the turn anyway, and the rear right side of the bus scooted partly into the ditch."The students were removed, loaded onto another bus and taken on to Cross Timbers," district spokesman Richie Ecovedo said. The first incident, on the first day of school, was almost identical, he said.The improvement project includes widening road surfaces and building curbs, gutters and sidewalks and eliminating ditches, said Keith Melton, interim public works director, who said the staff is still seeking public input on the plans. The work will be on three sections -- Ledbetter from Curry to Russell; Russell from Ledbetter to Calender; and Calender, from Harris Road to just south of Russell.Also, two roundabouts (similar to traffic circles) will be built at the Calender-Harris and Calendar-Russell intersections. And Curry's elevation on either side of Ledbetter will be lowered for improved visibility.Capehart said she helped to get a traffic signal installed about four years ago at the intersection where buses slipped off the road. The city also installed a "stop here" sign for motorists on Russell to stop farther back from the intersection."If those vehicles don't do that, it really creates problems," Melton said.Many utility lines have to be relocated and rights of way acquired before construction can begin, so the project cannot be speeded up, Melton said.One option in the short term would be to widen the one corner where the buses have slipped off the road and move the bar ditch."We are looking into that," Melton said. "But it's not a simple solution, because the bottom line is we don't have the right of way."The city could move the "stop here" sign and the pavement striping farther back in hopes that more people would heed the notice, he said.Belinda Hunt shares her neighbors' impatience but said she was impressed by the city's proposed long-term solution."I think it's a fantastic project," said Hunt, who lives on Ledbetter."I think it's such a smart project for the neighborhood, the schools and the residents."Robert Cadwallader, 817-390-7641Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
