Colorado Springs in process of installing flasher systems in safety zones at 21 high, middle schools

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- As students in Academy District 20 begin resuming classes Tuesday, they'll notice a safety zone with flashing yellow caution lights for the first time at Pine Creek High School.

Pine Creek is one of five high or middle schools receiving the flashers for the start of the fall semester; it's part of a goal by the city's traffic department to to make similar upgrades at a total of 21 schools.

The devices aren't cheap, however; each set of flashers costs around $10,000 and each school requires between two and four sets depending on how many streets border it.

To fund the installations, the city uses a surcharge on speeding tickets approved earlier this year by the City Council and supported by Mayor Yemi Mobolade.

Installation starts this fall at five more schools including Rampart High School in District 20.

Pine Creek's flasher zone is along Old Ranch Road, a busy street just east of the Powers Boulevard interchange; flashers are on both sides of the crosswalk leading to the school at the intersection of Thunder Mountain Avenue and Blue Horizon View Drive.

"It's all about safety, right?" said Todd Frisbie, the city's head traffic engineer. "These flashers protect either a crosswalk or an intersection."

He said that the flashers should prevent a tragedy like the one in March 2023 at Doherty High School in School District 11, where a student died after being struck by a vehicle in the crosswalk leading to the school; the city created a safety zone there along busy Barnes Road a month later.

Money for the School Safety Fund allows the city to create five flasher zones per school year -- meaning that the city will have 11 schools remaining on the list after next spring.

Frisbie said that installing flashers is customized for each school because of different layouts, and that presents occasional challenges.

"A school like Rampart, which is at the intersection of Lexington and Union, we have two streets that we're trying to control speeds on both of those," he explained. "So, that'll take a little more effort in terms of flashers to bring some reduced speeds around that school."