Petition for Increased Street Safety for Children in Mountain View

The neighborhood of Mountain View is a community where families enjoy spending time outdoors, in yards, or on neighborhood sidewalks and streets. Students ride their bicycles and children are constantly running down the sidewalks and across the streets to play with friends. We are a bustling neighborhood, full of life... until one of those children gets struck.

Although we encourage our children to follow the rules of the road and to be aware of vehicles/drivers, we all know when a child is playing, they can forget, or not look carefully, and find themselves in danger.

This summer, there have been several close calls between children and vehicles, and two students have been struck by cars while riding bicycles; different days, but at the same intersection. Thankfully, both only suffered severe bruising and a few minor cuts (one was transported by ambulance for suspected breaks or internal injuries, but he was treated and sent home). The families of our community are concerned that drivers are not driving cautiously and driving faster than the residential speed limit.

Mountain View Hope Covenant Church recently hosted a bicycle safety booth on National Night Out, hosted by the Mountain View Boys and Girls Club (BGC). In partnership with the Alaska Injury Prevention Center and the William Tyson Elementary PTA, we were able to hand out bicycle safety items (reflective gear, bicycle safety pamphlets, coloring books, etc.). Through the AIPC and generous donations, we were able to provide helmets for both families whose children had been struck and held a drawing for two kids who received a bicycle safety set: helmet, safety pads (knee, elbow, and wrist), wheel lights, bike lock, and reflective gear. Mountain View Hope will continue to partner with the Tyson PTA to educate students about their role in keeping themselves safe. We have been encouraging families to follow five safety rules: Always Wear a Helmet, See and Be Seen, Obey All Traffic Laws, Be Predictable, and Stay Alert at All Times.

While we can encourage our neighbors, we are also asking for intervention from the Mountain View Community Council and the Municipality to take a look at the streets in Mountain View, and to help drivers to be more cautious when driving through the neighborhood, specifically while driving down Price Street. When drivers pass the last stop sign on Price Street (Price St./Peterkin Ave., the Boys and Girls Club intersection), many find themselves speeding up through the Price Street/Richmond Avenue intersection in an effort to make the green light at the intersection of Price Street and Mountain View Drive. In addition, once drivers pass the stop sign by the Boys and Girls Club, they drive less cautiously because they expect children to be near the Club., and seem to forget that they still need to be cautious of children, even though the intersection in question is only a block away from the Boys and Girls Club.

We are proposing that the intersection of Price Street and Richmond Avenue be changed from a 2-way stop to a 4-way stop. Currently, there are stop signs driving down Richmond Avenue crossing Price Street, but we would like to see the addition of stop signs driving down Price Street crossing Richmond Avenue. We are also proposing the addition of several speed bumps down Price Street between Thompson and Mountain View Drive, and one on Richmond Avenue between Bragaw Street at Price Street.

Whether they are riding their bicycles or skateboards down the street or running across the street to visit a friend or play in a sprinkler, the children of Mountain View need to be protected. As adults, we can educate them, but we can also help each other keep the children safe by increasing ways to cause drivers to become more cautious when it comes to driving down our neighborhood streets.