No Crossing Guard at Lovers and Hillcrest. Again.

Here’s what the traffic flow looked like when approaching the intersection of Hillcrest and Lovers Lane at about 7:45 this morning. And there was no crossing guard at the intersection. Again.

There was a policeman sitting in his car a half block down monitoring speed from the Shell parking lot. Or maybe he was looking for the crossing guard, or something super important that kept him from filling in.

Anyway, word to parents who ship off kids without a grown up: You’re sending your children into a real-life Frogger game, don’t do it.

By Merritt Patterson Sep. 29, 2010 | 2:24 pm | 15 Comments | Comments RSS
15 comments to "No Crossing Guard at Lovers and Hillcrest. Again. "
  1. Kersten Rettig @ September 29, 2010 at 2:33 pm
    Great anaology!

    Carpool is sooo much better at MIS/HPMS and my deepest thanks go to the staff and parents there who are making that happen. Thank.You. It’s still dangerous out there and I see organized chaos every morning at Bradfield so you give good advice here, Merritt.

  2. kmom @ September 29, 2010 at 3:46 pm
    Isn’t this where the kindergartner was killed a few years ago?

  3. Merritt Patterson @ September 29, 2010 at 3:53 pm
    @kmom- That was such a tragic day. It was October 2003, a first grader. She was crossing with a parent at Hillcrest and Purdue, three blocks north of the intersection in the photo.

  4. laurie @ September 29, 2010 at 5:07 pm
    If you don’t see a crossing guard, call UP police and they will send one over.

  5. kmom @ September 29, 2010 at 5:27 pm
    I didn’t know anyone involved in that, the mom, the child, the teenager driving – but I cried my eyes out over it. Still kills me.

  6. Merritt Patterson @ September 29, 2010 at 5:32 pm
    @laurie, I thought they proabably knew since there was a policeman sitting a half block away but maybe you’re right, next time I’ll call. There was a police officer working the intersection this afternoon!

  7. kmom @ September 29, 2010 at 6:21 pm
    I’m always surprised at how many people don’t know the direct dial dispatch number for the UP Police – much faster than 911 – 214-363-3000 – post it by your phones, program it in your cells. One of the best things about this town is calling that number and getting those incredibly kind, patient and interested dispatchers on the phone immediately.

  8. jb @ September 29, 2010 at 11:09 pm
    on Tuesday afternoon Sept 28 there was no crossing guard at that intersection… however, there was a U.P. police officer one block away (west on lovers Lane, in the alley buy the petrol station) pulling citizens over and writing citations for cell phone use while driving… sigh…

  9. jc @ September 30, 2010 at 1:31 pm
    @jb – you’re kind of dating yourself with the use of “petrol station.” ; )

  10. laurie @ September 30, 2010 at 2:33 pm
    Dear Chief Adams,

    Please figure out a system to insure that crosswalks are staffed each morning and afternoon.

    Here’s a possible solution: An officer should drive by UP elementary beginning at 7:20 to check all the crosswalks. If no guard is present, the officer should work the intersection, and then alert dispatch to send someone else to check Hyer, then MIS/HPMS, and then the high school. If they’re sitting on Lovers looking for speeders, then they could be checking crosswalks.

    Does another child have to be killed before the city does something?

  11. D @ September 30, 2010 at 2:58 pm
    @jc,

    I don’t think jb is dating himself, but rather “locating” himself (if that makes sense). Many British call gas stations petrol stations.

  12. ramsey @ September 30, 2010 at 5:51 pm
    KMOM,
    Thanks for the info on the number to call. My wife called 911 two Saturdays ago when she saw an elderly man laying in his yard. It took 11 rings before they answered her call. She followed up by contacting UP to discuss the problem and found out that most of the time they only have 1 911 call operator on duty. They call in a Police Officer to answer the phone if the operator has to go to the bathroom. We need to do what is necessary to enable them to have more than 1 operator on duty at all times. Someone having a stroke or heart attack may not be able to wait 11 rings to get an answer. while i know they get an address when the call is placed on a land line, but not when a cell phone is used, but just having an address and not knowing the problem can still delay assistance.

  13. laurie @ October 1, 2010 at 8:47 am
    ramsey, the 214-363-3000 number is answered by the 911 call operator. Since it’s a non-emergency number, you may wait longer to get your call answered or be put on hold. I think they also answer the 311 calls are when city hall is closed.

  14. steve mace @ October 1, 2010 at 10:16 am
    Concerning Mr. Ramsey’s comments:

    Understandably minutes can feel like hours when you are waiting for help to arrive at the scene of an emergency.

    The City’s 9-1-1 dispatcher received 4 calls about this incident 18 seconds apart. That’s not unusual given the proliferation of cellphones. Within 1 minute of recieving the first call 9-1-1 had dispatched the MICU (ambulance) and answered the other three calls. A fifth call about the same incident was recieved three minutes after the first call was placed. The MICU was in route to the emergency 1 minute after being toned and was on scene four minutes later.

    The City’s 9-1-1 Center has two dispatchers on duty a majority of the time, including all peak periods.

    Residents can learn more about the capabilities of the City’s new 9-1-1 Center by watching a recent City Manager Briefing segment. City Manager Briefing segments can be accessed from the City’s website homepage at http://www.uptexas.org. Once you are on the City Manager Briefing page, the segments that details the
    9-1-1 Center is listed second from the bottom.

  15. diane ramsey @ October 1, 2010 at 10:50 pm
    my husband wrote a blog about my experience with 911. city spokesman responded with glib comments. here’s the deal. almost half of the time, the city 911 office is manned by one (1) dispatcher. that dispatcher not only responds to 911 calls, but also monitors the up direct security alarms. when i called two saturdays ago, it took 11 rings to get a response – 11 rings. mr. mace’s response was that the man down was taken care of that day. good deal. however, if i were calling about something else, i would have still been waiting 11 rings! yes, it is an eternity and if i had a choking baby or an elderly relative who was not breathing or a man kicking in my front door – it might have been too many rings! the problem is that there should ALWAYS be at least two (2) dispatchers covering 911 and i assumed, erroneously, that was the case. the city budget should be covering two (2) dispatchers at all times and cutting down on flora and fauna displays and we, the residents, should demand no less!

    diane ramsey

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