Parents and students press Lawrence council for safer crosswalks on Broadway near Arlington School

A nine-year-old Arlington Elementary student and parents asked the Lawrence City Council on Sept. 2 to improve pedestrian safety on Broadway (Route 28) near Arlington School, saying failing signals and missing school-zone signage make walking to school hazardous.

Parker Maffin, introduced by his mother as a 9-year-old student at Arlington Elementary, told the council, “Cars drive too fast, and sometimes it's scary,” and asked for “a better crosswalk with the light working button that talks.” His mother, Joanne Colton, said the intersection near 550 Broadway serves hundreds of families and that many parents now drive children to school because walking feels unsafe.

Colton said she and school staff previously discussed signage and crosswalk upgrades with Safe Routes to School and school safety staff, including Director of Operations Adonis Hernandez and Director of School Safety Dave Hernandez, but she said there was “no follow through.” She asked the city to post pedestrian and school-zone signage, repair crosswalk buttons where needed, and update signals at Broadway & Arlington, Broadway & Park and Manchester & Broadway.

Why it matters: Arlington School educates a large number of walking students in a neighborhood with dense housing; parents said upgraded signage and functioning pedestrian signals would reduce risks for children walking to school.

Next steps: the requests were entered into the public record and councilors indicated they would pass them to the appropriate departments (DPW, Traffic and School Safety) for follow-up. No formal vote or appropriation occurred during the meeting.

Ending: residents asked for quick repairs to existing signals and installation of school-zone signage to make walking routes safer for students and other pedestrians.