Safety changes demanded after girl’s hit-and-run death in Cape Coral

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A group in Cape Coral is taking a list of demands to the city to advocate for safer bus stops for students and pedestrians that are picked up near busy or dark intersections.

Following the death of 8-year-old Layla Aiken, the Northwest Cape Coral Neighborhood Association plans to take a letter to the city council to lay out several ways to make bus stops safer for students.

The list of demands are:

· Add additional streetlights and 4-way stop signs at all crossing intersections that have school bus stops.

· Install benches safely off the roadways for the school children, at each bus stop location. The City would not need to exclusively pay for these benches. They could be sponsored by local businesses and organizations such as our organization, the Northwest Cape Neighborhood Assoc.

· Currently, the City is deciding where new streetlights are added, based on a criterion established by previous City Councils. We recommend that the location criteria be modified to include street light requests made by area residents. They know best what their neighborhood’s needs are.

· Increase the streetlight program’s yearly budget and modify the City’s criteria for their locations, that tracks with the growth areas of the City. Those growth areas are driving an increased tax base, which could easily fund additional streetlights and streetlight budgeting.

· Overall, the Northeast and Northwest Cape areas are lacking in streetlights throughout. Many school children are walking to bus stops with flashlights in hand. Most children are walking through many areas of total darkness to get to their bus stops. This needs immediate attention.

· With regards to the current City budget, the City is sitting on a $3.8 million-dollar surplus, that was created by the failure of Amendment 1, during the last election cycle. We request that the City Council pass a resolution to immediately designate a major portion of those funds, for adding streetlights and sidewalks throughout the Cape.

· Also, the Lee County School Board needs to examine their school of choice program. Do Parents really need a dozen choices to select from, to send their children to school. Perhaps the 2 or 3 closest schools geographically would suffice. This would reduce traffic by having numerous buses picking up in the same neighborhood and reduce school busing cost.

If you would like to submit a request for a street light to be added to your neighborhood, you can submit your request here.

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