Neighbors raise concern over COD temporary campus
Hundreds of students are expected to attend College of the Desert’s new temporary campus in Palm Springs and that is now raising safety concerns from a neighborhood group.
The campus, opening up in January, is located on east Baristo Road and Hermosa Drive. Neighbors, like David Carden, said the intersection needs improvements to handle the influx of people.
Carden is the founder of the Baristo Neighborhood Association in Palm Springs. he and about 1,000 other neighbors live across the street from College of the Desert’s new satellite campus.
“One of the safety measures that i’d like to see COD and the city do, immediately, is to have these crosswalks painted so the kids could go to school safety. There’s only one light between Cabellros and Sunrise which means this is a very dark street when the sun sets…We need postings for pedestrian crossings and signage that there’s a school in this area to slow down that traffic,” Carden said.
Marcus Fuller is Palm Springs’ Assistant City Manager. He says there will be an additional 200 students traveling the area each day. Fuller says isn’t enough to impact traffic.
“At this point, I’m going to wait and I’m going to monitor and determine whether there’s corrective action to take. Based on what I’ve reviewed, I believe all of the traffic concerns can be handled by their on-site parking, but we’ll closely monitor as they open for students in January,” Fuller said.
James Meier, the Interim Director of Community Relations for College of the Desert provided us with this statement:
“We’re going to continue to work with the City of Palm Springs on our Temporary Palm Springs Campus to ensure the safety of the campus and the neighboring area before classes begin on Jan. 29. We definitely take the safety of our students and the community very seriously.”
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