Politics & Government

Mason Ridge Starts School With New School Zone

It's taken a few year, but Parkway's Mason Ridge Elementary School finally got the school zone that it's been pushing for.

UPDATE: 11:48 p.m., Monday-

Mason Ridge Elementary School Principal Mike Schmerold tells Patch all three of the flashing school zone signs will not be posted by the first day of school on Tuesday.

Schmerold said he had expected and hoped they would all be in place. As of Tuesday night, the St. Louis County sign on northbound Mason Road is posted. The two MoDOT signs are not yet posted. One is expected to be on southbound Mason Road as drivers come from the Highway 40 overpass and the other is expected on the service road that intersects with Mason Road in front of the school.

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Parkway's is starting the 2011-12 school year with a new school zone outside.

Find out what's happening in Town And Country-Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We certainly do appreciate the joint cooperation between the city, county, state, school and parents for this important safety initiative," Mason Ridge Principal Mike Schmerold told Town and Country-Manchester Patch.

Schmerold and some school parents had been pushing for the flashing, school-zone signs because the school is in a busy area, just south of Highway 40 on Mason Road, he said, and it was necessary to get drivers' attention and make them aware there are children and cars leaving the parking lot.

As previously reported by Patch in January, the state's had already agreed to install two flashing signs, one on the outer road that intersects in front of the school and one on southbound Mason Road, but St. Louis County was not yet on board. This left the northbound of Mason Road, which is under the county's jurisdiction, without a flashing school zone sign.

In January, Dave Wrone, a spokesperson with the St. Louis County County Department of Highways and Traffic told Patch the county did conduct a study last fall, but denied the school's original request to make that portion of Mason Road a school speed zone.

"We observed literally nobody walking to or from school, which is a huge criteria. It is the key criteria of us," Wrone said.

Wrone said the county would again look at the area in the spring or summer and reconsider the request for a school zone later in 2011. Apparently, St. Louis County decided to approve and pay for the third and final flashing school zone light. It is placed on northbound Mason Road to alert drivers as they approach the school.

Calls from Town and Country-Manchester Patch to St. Louis County about the decision have not yet been returned.

"They must have seen the need, and we're happy about it," Schmerold told Patch.

Schmerold said installation of all three signs was being completed last week. He expects them all in place for the start of school on Tuesday morning.

Funding for both signals approved by and installed by MoDOT is being split between the school and the PTO.

 

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