COLORADO SPRINGS — Drop off and pick up just became a lot safer for Gateway Elementary school students in Woodland Park.
Lori Padgett has been a crossing guard for almost 30 years. She said she knew how much a sidewalk was needed.
"I cringed every morning because there were very many close calls and so I just knew something needed to be done because students were just putting their life's in danger," said Padgett.
She said kids and parents would have to run through passing cars to get to and from school. There was not a connecting sidewalk so the main crosswalk was hardly used.
"The crosswalk was there but there was really no easy way to access [to it, they still had to walk behind cars to get to the crosswalk, which was also was not safe," said Padgett.
Now, kids can use the sidewalk on the other side of the parking lot instead. But she fought for years to make this a reality.
"I was always told we don't have money but you really can't put a price on safety," said Padgett.
The vice president of the school board agreed and worked to add it to the budget over the summer.
"I just thought that's one of those obviously great ideas and it's not going to cost that much money," said David Illingworth.
He even named it after her, 'Lori Lane.'
"Really my only contribution," laughed Illingworth. "Lori Lane that just sounds great and I think she deserves all the credit in the world."
Padgett said she hopes the sidewalk ensures the safety of hundreds of students in years to come.
"I'm just happy that my concerns were listened to and they were taken seriously," said Padgett.
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