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Resident urges action on unsafe school crossing at Center Street; city says flashers being repaired
Summary
A Marysville resident described motorists passing stopped cars at a busy crosswalk near Center Street and 11th, urged volunteers or other measures to protect students, and city staff said crosswalk flashers are being patched with new batteries and may need wiring if solar power fails.
A Marysville resident told the City Council on June 3 that motorists are driving around stopped cars at a school crosswalk on Center Street (U.S. 36) at 11th Street, creating a danger for children leaving school.
"It was after school had just let out and there were young children at the crosswalk, waiting to cross the highway," Robin Rose, who identified herself as Ward 4, said during public comment. Rose said she stopped her vehicle and three cars passed her in the parking lane. She offered to volunteer as a crossing guard.
The matter drew brief follow-up discussion at the meeting. A council member asked students to use the Tenth Street crossing for the highway, which the council said is a safer route than crossing at 11th Street. Council members and staff also discussed ongoing maintenance and reliability problems with several school-crossing flashers.
City staff said they are replacing batteries in the flashers across town. "We are replacing all of the batteries with new ones. They are as old as those crosswalks are, so we're hoping that will fix it," a City Administrator said during council comments. The administrator added that if solar panels do not charge the units sufficiently, the city will consider wiring problem locations to the electrical grid; one crossing is affected by a large tree that limits solar charging.
Council members also said the elementary school previously had crossing guards at some intersections but not at the highway crossing cited by Rose. Rose suggested the Catholic school east of the crossing uses a stoplight and escorts children; she encouraged the council and schools to examine options and offered to volunteer for crossing duties.
The council did not adopt a formal motion on the issue during the meeting. Staff and councilors said they would pursue practical steps, including battery replacement and contacting the school, and would bring further information back to the council if additional direction or funding is needed.
Marysville officials additionally discussed related traffic and school-safety items later in the meeting, including recurring problems at other crossings and the possible need to hard‑wire one crossing where solar power is insufficient.
The public-comments portion of the council meeting is where Rose raised the crossing concern; later operational details were addressed during council comments and the city administrator's report.
