Vicksburg Patrolman Jamee Carter watches traffic as Tiffany Page and Katelyn Fraysier cross Weems Street to get to their ride Wednesday outside Vicksburg Junior High School. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[10/21/04]Police and school officials are making traffic and street changes near the two junior high schools in hopes of solving safety concerns with parents dropping off and picking up students.

Vicksburg Deputy Chief Richard O’Bannon outlined four problem areas at the schools on Baldwin Ferry Road.

The problems, he said, are:

Students walking to school up Baldwin Ferry from Court Street;

Students being dropped off on the westbound lane of Baldwin Ferry and crossing to get to a sidewalk;

Students being picked up on Weems Street, backing up traffic on Baldwin Ferry; and

Heavy traffic, including drivers speeding on Baldwin Ferry.

“We are trying to address them all,” O’Bannon said. “We’re issuing citations, and we’ve had additional officers there for the past three days.”

“We are increasing our enforcement there, and we hope to make it safer for the kids to cross the street. We’re monitoring it, and we’ll continue to monitor it.”

For students walking up from Court Street, O’Bannon said officers are ticketing speeders. A drop-off lane and a crosswalk lane have been outlined on Baldwin Ferry. And, on Weems Street, school officials have removed part of a fence and in the next two or three days will add a 12-foot-wide drop-off lane to span about 250 feet, Superintendent James Price said. Also, Weems Street will be one way from 7 to 8:30 a.m. and 2 to 4:30 p.m., so parents can pick up and drop off students more safely.

“We didn’t know there was a problem,” Price said.

“We have a lot of children on Baldwin Ferry,” Price said. “We didn’t realize we had as many parents picking up students as we do this year.”

At Vicksburg Junior, 735 are enrolled, and 840 are at Warren Junior.

“We’re correcting the situation by making it safer for parents, motorists and children,” Price said.