Volunteers Paint Crosswalks In East Baltimore To Keep Students Safe
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A safer walk to school for Baltimore students: that's what the Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood is striving to achieve.
Founded by Regina Hammond in 2013, the nonprofit organization aims to provide the community with recreational opportunities, affordable housing, employment resources. It also wants to do its part to improve public safety.
Over the weekend, volunteers painted crosswalks in front of Johnston Square Elementary School in East Baltimore in hopes of deterring speeding drivers.
"It's not just Chase Street--it's Biddle Street and Preston Street," Hammond told WJZ. "You can clock traffic going 80 miles per hour, and this is a school district and a residential area."
As she does, Hammond identified a problem and then came up with a solution. The installation of crosswalks is a reminder for cars to stop and slow down on their way downtown, especially while driving near the school.
Quinton Batts, a social design associate for The Center for Social Design at the Maryland Institute College of Art, which is assisting with the project, said the goal is to keep people out of the street and potentially save lives.
"The prime aspect of these bump-outs is making the crosswalks shorter, making the interaction for pedestrians and cars shorter and less scary," Batts said.
