Principal and students urge council to keep Market Street signal and create school safety zone

Corey Yocom, principal of the Academy for Urban Scholars, told Youngstown City Council on Dec. 17 that the traffic signal at Market Street and Auburndale is critical to student safety and should not be removed. He yielded his time to two graduating seniors who described repeated near-misses and at least one collision in front of the school.

The students said drivers frequently run red and yellow lights and fail to yield to pedestrians. "Removing the traffic light would not in any way improve safety," said Sebastian Parneby, a graduating senior. Trinity Barber added, "There are students that have already been hit in front of our building," and asked council to make the area a school zone with traffic cameras so vehicles would slow and enforcement could be possible.

Councilwoman Davis thanked the students and said she shared their concern, noting the absence of school-zone signage and cameras at that intersection. A city staff member explained the procedural steps: public comments will be compiled and sent to the city's traffic engineering consultant, then forwarded to the Ohio Department of Transportation for consideration. The staff member said the city may fund an upgrade itself if council chooses, because federal funds cannot be used for the requested change; he also said the school must file state paperwork to request a formal school-zone designation and specify the zone hours. He noted that speed-camera programs are overseen by the Youngstown Police Department, not Public Works.

Council members asked the principal to provide the necessary paperwork and contact the city so staff can move forward with the school-zone designation and review options for intersection improvements. The council did not take a formal vote on the traffic signal during the meeting; staff will compile the submitted comments for the engineering review and communicate next steps to the school.