TULSA, Okla. — More viewers are reaching out asking us to look into school zones where side streets or businesses turn onto busy roads inside those zones, making it difficult for drivers to know when those zones are active.
2 News reported on these hard-to-see school zone signs earlier this week:
Laurie Maurer is glad the City of Tulsa put up school signs on East 67th Street and East 68th Street as they enter Garnett across from the Union 8th Grade Center and McAuliffe Elementary.
She's lived in that neighborhood for more than 20 years and believes signs are needed to get drivers to slow down and keep kids safe.
But she said, "Whenever they finally put up the sign it doesn’t have any time zones on it just says school zone so you’re supposed to pull out and assume that every time you pull out onto Garnett you’re in the school zone."
“Can they not put times on there? Or, I think a flashing light would actually work.”
Maurer also has another concern.
“They positioned the sign to where whenever you come out of our street to turn you’re not seeing it." “It’s just frustrating”
Near Lewis & Clark Elementary farther up Garnett, Mark Bussey has a different problem knowing if the school zone lights are active.
Drivers heading north or south on Garnett can clearly see the flashing yellow lights indicating when the school zone is active.
Bussey says those making turns onto Garnett from 7th Street are inside the school zone so they cannot see the yellow flashers. They only indication they have as to when those flashers are activated is a small white light on the back of the school zone sign that doesn't work.
He showed 2 News emails going back several months, in which he asked the City and his City Councilor to get it fixed.
He also showed an email from the City claiming the light was fixed, but on August 30, Bussey sent us a video he took at 3 p.m. showing the light is still broken.
2 News contacted the City about these issues.
Its response for the issues on E 67th Street and E 68th Street:
Both of our traffic operations managers are out today.
And for the light near Lewis & Clark Elementary:
We will check on the status of the light.
We will also check with the City on Sept. 2 for more answers. If you have concerns about any other school zones, let us know. We're listening.
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