More Crossing Guards Needed for School, Parent Says

To the Editor:

How sad that one of our students was struck by a car this morning right in front of the high school and many students. 

I am writing to please ask that you place a Bridgewater PD officer or crossing guard at the high school to direct and control the traffic each morning between 6:35 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. on Garretson Road. 

I am a mother of a junior at the high school. I drive my daughter to school each morning, arriving between 6:45 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. I can tell you that I am not surprised at all that a child was hit by a car this morning. The amount of traffic and the speed that some cars are driving at is frightening. The addition of the arriving school buses also contributes to limited visibility in the area.  

Many many other school districts have either police controlling the traffic or traffic guards. I have also seen in other towns crossing guards located at intersections some blocks away from the school. I am certain the Bridgewater-Raritan parents, teachers, police department, town administrators and mayor care for the safety of our school students just as much as other towns.

I would also like to make a suggestion and also ask why the school buses cannot arrive to the school by another approach, thereby reducing the Garretson Road congestion. I have noticed that behind the public works garage and the football field there is a stone driveway going in the direction of the school. I do not know where this leads but it makes me ask the question why couldn’t this drive be used/improved to provide a bus-only access for arriving buses to school.   

Sincerely,

Eileen A. Buckley

Bridgewater