After a 12-year-old boy was seriously injured this past summer crossing Jamerson Road near Davis Elementary School, a new crosswalk has been installed in that area.
Cobb government and transportation officials were on hand earlier this week as students and their parents traversed Jamerson in a newly constructed crosswalk, along with flashing lights and warning signs for pedestrians and motorists alike.
Cobb commissioners approved spending $146,000 in SPLOST revenues for the safety enhancements, and Commissioner JoAnn Birrell was among those on hand for the debut (see Cobb TV video below).
Preston Veal, a student at Mabry Middle School, has undergone a long recovery after being hit by a van while crossing Jamerson Road near the school in late June. He was hospitalized with numerous broken bones and internal injuries, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for his medical expenses.
Veal, a member of the Lassiter Junior Trojan youth football program, was walking home from Davis on June 28 after shooting basketball at the school. Cobb Police said he was crossing from a sidewalk on Jamerson, east of Turtle Rock Drive, when he was hit by a van.
That’s near the only crosswalk across Jamerson serving the school.
Among those walking her child across the crosswalk was mom Courtney Chiang DiStefano, who told East Cobb News last summer that had begun a petition for a solar flashing light alert, along with crosswalk detectors, a chirping alert for pedestrians and for another crosswalk to be built to cover both sides of the school.
She didn’t get everything she initially asked for, but was pleased with the new safety measures this week.
DiStefano previously said she and her family use the crosswalk often to visit grandparents and to go to classes as Davis, but told us “the lack of a protected crosswalk with sufficient signage and protection puts our children and neighbors at significant risk.”
Related:
- Columns Drive traffic project to remove and replace trees
- Jamerson Road traffic changes proposed after pedestrian crash
- Cobb approves Canton-Piedmont intersection work
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