Commission working to get crosswalks for Bibb schools

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A crossing guard was hit by car Thursday morning near Ingram-Pye Elementary School. The driver told Bibb deputies the sun blinded him and didn’t see the crossing guard. Witnesses say the driver was going no more than ten miles an hour. The crossing guard was taken to Navicent Health with leg and knee pain.

The real eye opener in this is, even though Ingram-Pye has a crossing guard, the school doesn’t have a cross walk.

“To have a crossing guard hit, really, that’s a wake up call to us,” said Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Elaine Lucas. “It is not okay that we don’t have cross walks here, especially when we have crossing guards.”

The Macon-Bibb Pedestrian Fatality Review Board took a field trip to the school a few weeks ago.

“From our last visit, we identified this as one of the priority items,” said Lucas. “We have crossing guards who are stationed here on the street and they need to have a secure or at least safer way of getting kids across the street.”

Another Bibb County School that doesn’t have crosswalks is Matilda Hartley Elementary School. It’s also located on a busy road just like Ingram-Pye.

The school district didn’t want to speak on camera, but they said they’re open to getting more crosswalks at schools like Ingram-Pye. Until then, they’ll continue to use their crossing guards.

“It is in the commissioners’ court now,” said Lucas. “I am certain that we are taking action as we speak to get these crosswalks in.”

Lucas says there are other schools throughout the county that need crosswalks as well.

“We realize that we have got a lot of work to do but we realize every time there’s an accident that the work we’re doing is very important,” said Lucas.  “We redouble our efforts in making sure that Macon-Bibb becomes safer every day.”

Lucas says we could start seeing crosswalks go up at those schools within the next couple of weeks. She also mentioned there’s money in the next SPLOST that goes towards public safety projects, including making sure every school in Macon-Bibb has crosswalks.