A change in direction

One local mom with children at Clarke Community Elementary has had enough with the confusing one-way signs at the school.

“I personally would like to see it closed off at the intersection,” said frustrated local mom Christy Leonard. “Kids go over there. It’s a big safety concern.”

Since November, Leonard has been attempting to fix the road signs near the school to make conditions safer. She cites drivers going the wrong way as one of the area’s biggest dangers, however, parents have also been pulling around the parked buses instead of waiting their turns.

A ‘temporary’ solution

In August 2015, the City Council was searching for solutions to traffic congestion near the school. The Clarke Community School District did not have the funds available for a traffic engineer to study the problem, so the city sought a unique solution.

From 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, the portion of East Jackson Street that runs in front of the elementary school converts to a one-way street, running west to east.

Instead of continuing or turning down Jackson, parents are supposed to go a block north on Kossuth and circle back around on E. Dewey St. beforing turning onto Jackson to pick their children up. In theory, the change would improve the flow of traffic and prevent a buildup of traffic.

“It has definitely helped alleviate the congestion, especially in the area of the buses,” said Clarke Elementary Principal Jill Kiger.

Unfortunately, the signage at the intersection of East Jackson and East Dewey streets have introduced some of their own problems. The top sign reads, “Begin One Way,” while the bottom says, “One Way Do Not Enter...”

“But that’s exactly what people are supposed to be doing,” said Leonard. “The way it’s written now, no one should be entering either way.”

According to Leonard, the confusion leads to people ignoring all the signs and driving the wrong way down Jackson, endangering kids and other drivers. It happens enough that the police have a hard time keeping up with correcting drivers.

According to an article in the Aug. 27, 2015 edition of the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune, Osceola Police Chief Marty Duffus made it clear at the time of the resolution the police would not be able to direct traffic every day after school. That hasn’t stopped the department from catching flack now that traffic issues are putting people at risk.

“They’re giving out warnings instead of tickets,” said Leonard in an email to City Administrator Ty Wheeler. “While (the officer) had someone pulled over, there would be three more people coming in the wrong way.”

Safety is the biggest concern on everyone’s minds.

Determining responsibility

While Clarke Community School District is legally responsible for maintaining a safe pickup area for students at the elementary school, the city is responsible for street traffic and the one-way designation.

“We don’t change directions of streets,” said Clarke Superintendent Steve Seid. “There was some congestion about 18 months ago. We provided feedback initially, but nothing beyond that.”

In August of 2015, the city council encouraged the school district to hire a traffic engineer. At that time, there wasn’t enough need to justify the expense. Leonard said utilizing Iowa State University graduate students for a district-wide traffic study might be a potential solution.

Mixed messages

Of special concern is the conflicting signage at Jackson and Dewey streets, which has been an issue for going on two years.

“Signage on the street is the city’s to take down,” said Wheeler. “Any request would have to go through the city. We would look into it further if there was concurrence between law enforcement and city officials.”

However, he said, the problem signs have been considered and changes are expected, though the date they’ll take place isn’t known. That’s a welcome relief for some parents and school officials who weren’t able to solve the problem on their own.