COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — A new school zone at Colorado Springs School District 11's Doherty High School is now active after calls for changes to school safety following the death of a student who was struck by a car.
The zone is located on Barnes Rd. between Austin Bluffs Pkwy. and Oro Blanco Dr. Flashing 20 mph speed limit signs are installed, as well as road markings in the area.
News5's Lindsey Jensen looked into whether a school zone would have prevented the crash.
The school zone is active:
- Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays: 7:00 a.m. - 7:50 a.m., 3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
- Wednesdays: 7:55 a.m. - 8:45 a.m., 3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m
The creation of the school zone follows the death of Giorgia Trocciola, a foreign exchange student, who was hit by a vehicle in March of 2023.
She was hit on a Wednesday, a day classes start later because of an optional prep period. Trocciola was hit at 7:21 a.m., according to Colorado Springs Police.
The current school zone would not have been active when she was hit.
A D11 spokesperson said the district is talking with the city about extending the time on Wednesday mornings.
"Doherty is just a busy school, they have things going on from 6 am to 10 or 11... there's always a potential of students crossing Barnes regardless of the flashers being on or off," said D11's chief communications officer Devra Ashby.
The city's traffic engineer said there hasn't been an official request yet.
"We have not heard from the district in regards to extending that to an earlier time but we will certainly work with them," said the city's traffic engineer Todd Frisbie.
Frisbie said an extension would be an easy and quick change, just like doing so for snow day delays.
"It's literally going into those flashers and changing the times, it would probably take a technician a minute or two," said Frisbie.
A few students said they are hopeful the new school zone will slow down drivers and protect more students.
"[I] feel like this will help in the future and we'll be stronger as a school," said Doherty High School senior Christian Drummond.
"I'm feeling a lot safer, crossing the street, it was a little scary at first," said Doherty High School sophomore Justice Johnson.
Throughout the week of Monday, April 24 to Friday, April 28, CSPD officers will actively patrol the area. Officers said they gave three tickets and two warnings to drivers going over the 20-mile-per-hour speed limit.
Careless driving, speeding, and failure to yield are the top three causes of fatal crashes in Colorado Springs, according to Colorado Springs Police.
"This is a community problem and we all need to take a look at our driving behaviors and see if there [is] something that we can do, ourselves, to improve the driving behaviors in Colorado Springs," said Lt. Steve Noblitt, with the Colorado Springs Police Patrol Support Section.
Not all high schools in Colorado Springs have school zones, but City Traffic Engineering said they will continue to work with school districts in Colorado Springs to install school zones as needed.
RELATED:
- Candlelight vigil held for Doherty High School student killed Wednesday
- City installing school zone for Doherty High School after deadly crash
- Teen driver charged by CSPD for the death of Doherty high school student
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