Concerned North Naples parents want increased safety at Veterans/Livingston intersection

Concerned parents whose children go to Veterans Memorial Elementary School are begging for changes before a child is hit and killed on their way to school.

They want a crossing guard near the intersection of Veterans Memorial Boulevard and Livingston Road in North Naples; parents told WINK News Friday

“Now, I have to take time out of my day to make sure they can safely cross the intersection,” Robert Woessner said.

Woessner said the intersection isn’t safe for his fourth-grade son and his friends to ride their bikes to and from Veterans Memorial Elementary.

Now, Woessner straps up his helmet and rides with his son and friends to school.

“There’s plenty of times a lot of people see me,” Woessner said. “And [drivers] wave like sorry all the time because they just don’t see you.”

Mkenzie Schutt and her family live right across the street.

“I’d love for my kids to cross the street, but it’s not going to happen by themselves,” Schutt said. “And even with me there, I don’t even know if cars are paying attention to me as an adult being there.”

The speed limit at Veterans Memorial Blvd. and Livingston Rd. is 45 miles per hour, but parents said drivers go faster than the speed limit.

Collier County Public Schools offered school buses, but Woessner said that’s not working out.

“It’s less than a five-minute car ride to the community,” Woessner said. “And it was taking our kids over an hour to come home from school.”

According to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, “The intersection does not currently warrant a crossing guard due to low volume of walkers.”

Concerned parents said, whatever it takes, they want a crossing guard or flashing lights with reduce-your speed signs.

“What we need to see is that they put the people out here,” Sharon Griffith said. “Then, we allow the kids to go. It’s not that we should allow our kids to go. Then, they find out it’s a need because someone is going to get hurt.”