DAVENPORT -- Friday is the first day of school in Polk County. Students walking to a couple of Davenport schools now have a safer pedestrian crossing.
Bill Skelton with Polk County Roads and Drainage says it's a response to a February truck crash that critically injured a 15-year-old girl walking to class. "There's a public expectation, following a tragic incident like (the one) in February, that we extend the infrastructure to where folks live," Skelton said.
Polk County government worked with the school district, sheriff's office and Duke Energy to make improvements near Davenport High School and the Davenport School of the Arts. A new crosswalk upgrade was fast-tracked, and the crosswalk now has reflective markings, pedestrian beacons (flashers) activated by a button, and brighter street lighting. This follows a recent installation of a new traffic signal at a driveway serving the two schools.
Skelton says the county isn't done in that neighborhood by any means. There are plans to install 23-hundred feet of new sidewalk between two subdivisions near the schools. The Davenport area is growing rapidly as the area becomes a bedroom community for Orlando workers.
Listen to an interview with Bill Skelton below:
Photo: Polk County Government