New spot for NCES students to wait for the school bus on Main Street

NORTH CANAAN — A potentially hazardous situation  involving school buses and children in the center of town appears to have been resolved.

Students taking the bus to North Canaan Elementary School had been crossing the state highway (Main Street, also known as state Route 44) to wait for the bus.

A school crossing guard raised concerns that the children and their parents were crossing in front of traffic.

A new plan has evolved, after much debate. The students will now wait on the side of the road closest to their home, until the bus has arrived and turned on its flashing safety lights.

The bus stop serves students who live  in the Station Place apartments; currently there are about eight. The apartments are on the side road behind businesses near the stop light in the center of the business district.

The children are now supposed to wait for the bus to arrive on the opposite side of the road (the vehicle will wait in front of the Raynard and Peirce Insurance office). Once the bus has stopped, the children can cross while the bus has its stop sign out and its red warning lights flashing.

Drivers should have plenty of time to notice and to stop for the bus, even those headed east around the sharp curve by the West Main Street intersection, and despite an unwillingness by the majority to heed speed limits.

The high rate  speed of many motor vehicles traveling through the center of town is only one of the concerns raised in what has turned into a  months-long conversation about student safety.

Veteran crossing guard Don Caranci has actually been expressing concerns about safety to the school, the Board of Education and the  Board of Selectmen  for several years now.

He said this week that he is finally satisfied everyone is doing the best they can there.

In addition to changing the location of the bus stop (which is the term used for where the children wait for the bus, not for where the bus actually stops), the school also made a change to the location of the manned crosswalk. It was moved from the West Main Street intersection to the Railroad Street junction, which has traffic and pedestrian signals.

Longstanding habits are hard to change, though. Even with the change to the crosswalk, and despite a letter sent home by North Canaan Elementary School Principal Rosemary Keilty, students, some escorted  by parents, continued to jaywalk at the intersection.

Continuing efforts and conversations seem to have had the desired effect, however, and most community members now seem  willing to follow the directives from the school.

North Canaan Resident State Trooper Jim Promotico also told The Journal he plans to spend more time monitoring the crosswalk. He hopes that his presence there will remind drivers of all the potential hazards in a town center.

He said he would, if the situation warrants it, not only give  tickets to vehicles for moving violations but also to jaywalkers.

A crossing guard will remain in place at the corner. Keilty said she supports having that “extra set of eyes� to watch out for the students.

Many of the parties involved say that, once the weather warms up, they hope students will begin once again to walk to school, which could clear up the traffic concerns and also be better for their health.