HUMBOLDT — After receiving a letter from a concerned citizen, the school zone around St. Augustine School is expanding.
“School will be starting soon and, again, I’ll be holding my breath as kids cross our street on their way to and from St. Augustine School or the playground,” said the letter in the April 26 council package, written by a citizen living on the 800 block of 10th Street, which contains the entrance and parking lot of St. Augustine Church.
“Our street is not designated as a school zone even though all kids east of here use the street to go to school or the playground. Drivers on our street are always speeding from the highway to the intersection [of 10th Street and Ninth Avenue] and don’t seem to worry about kids crossing the street or coming out of the alley.”
In response to the concerns brought forward by the letter, the school zone on Ninth Avenue, the zone will be expanded eastward, ending halfway between 10th Street and Main Street.
On 10th Street, which currently doesn’t have a school zone, the new zone will start at where the church’s overhanging entrance roof begins and extend north to around one property north of the 10th Street-Ninth Avenue intersection.
“It's something small, but it's something that we'll do to help protect our children and keep them safe when they're running to and from the schools without necessarily paying attention at times,” Michael Behiel, Humboldt’s mayor, said after council approved the extended school zone at its April 26 meeting.
Peter Bergquist, Humboldt’s public works director, said his department will order the signs immediately and install them when they come.
