Century crosswalk chaos

(ABC 6 News) – A few years ago, a Century High student was crossing the street near the school when he was hit by a car. That prompted change and now there’s a new roundabout in place at Century Hill Drive and County Road 2.

But there are still issues at another intersection nearby, the intersection of Viola Road Northeast and East Circle Drive. It’s a busy intersection that has seemed to get more dangerous when pedestrians do not obey traffic laws.

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Lunchtime is busy at Century High School. Several students take advantage of open lunch to grab a bite at the brand-new McDonald’s or Kwik Trip.

“Yeah, people go there like every day,” said student Payton Taylor.

But their route to the stores has raised concern to some in the area.

“But unfortunately, I think, just with the amount of traffic and the number of kids, we are seeing just a lot of near misses and people aren’t following the rules,” said Lindsay Olson, who lives in the area.

Some students do not use the crosswalk, but instead crossing the street diagonally or walk along the side of the street without a crosswalk.

“They are just crossing whenever there’s a gap in traffic, which is a little concerning because it is a bit speedier intersection,” said Mike DeBolt.

Debolt graduated from Century High School and remembered crossing the road using the pedestrian bridge down the road from the intersection.

“Well, when I was going to Century, we would use that to get to the old Kwik Trip location,” said DeBolt.

But when ABC 6 went out there, not many students used that bridge.

“I’m think something a little safer and little more convenient for the students might be in order,” said DeBolt.

But for now, some students warn their classmates to follow the rules.

“Don’t jaywalk,” said one student.

Payton adds, “just don’t cross until you get a walk signal.”

Rochester Public Schools said in a statement “We are aware of the crossing situation and have developed a plan to educate students and parents/caregivers regarding this safety issue.”

Rochester Public Schools did not specify further.

Correction: The original version of this story contained an error. We had reported that a student had been hit by a car and died. That was a mistake. A student was hit by a car and sent to the hospital but, fortunately, that student did survive the crash.