Local mother raising concerns over pedestrian safety at CVHS

A local mother raised concerns over pedestrian safety in front of Coachella Valley High School due to the lack of adequate traffic controls at the front entrance of the school. Maria Torres, a mother whose son attends CVHS, said she does not feel it’s safe for students when they are dropped off or picked up when they are at campus.

Torres said the area did not have a crosswalk, stop signs, or lights along Airport Boulevard. She said during the morning rush hour, there would be congestion.

“So just imagine having cars parked on the side,” she said. “You have a lot of parents I mean, many parents parked along the side and then cars everywhere.”

While there is a designated drop off and pick up area for parents, Torres said the area was too small to accommodate all the cars, forcing parents to park along a dirt lot where kids had to cross the street to get to campus. Torres said her son almost got hit by a car.

“Half on an inch, literally,” she said. “I mean i thought he was going to get hit. It was very scary.”

District officials with the Coachella Valley Unified School District met with Torres last week when she addressed her concerns. Officials surveyed the area with her. Norma Rodriguez, interim director of child welfare and attendance at CVUSD, said the district was addressing the concerns and appreciated Torres bringing up the concern. She said CVUSD was looking at meeting with the City of Coachella and the County of Riverside to discuss potentially putting sidewalks and crosswalks in the area.

Torres said those traffic controls would be great, and hoped there would be proactivity as she did not want to see a student get hurt.

“I don’t want nobody getting hurt,” she said. “I wouldn’t want a tragedy and then we want to do something. Let’s do it before it happens.”