Bus Stop Lighting Gets Green Light

County commissioners cleared the way Tuesday to improve the lighting at 12 school bus stops.

Four bus stops will also see the addition of a 10-foot-square concrete "pad" on the road's shoulder for students to stand on while they wait for the bus to arrive.

The improvements make good on official promises to increase schoolchildren's safety after a 13-year-old West Hernando Middle School student was killed on Sept. 9.

Witnesses said Kaitlyn Harper was walking in the early morning darkness on California Street when she was struck from behind by a pickup truck. Although Harper usually caught the bus with her brother at a different stop, it's believed she was joining her classmates at the Narrow Street intersection.

In the wake of the collision, school and county officials collaborated to determine which bus stops needed the most improvement. Much of their decision was based on surveys distributed to school bus drivers.

On Thursday, Linda Smith, director of the Transportation Department, said there were more than 50 suggested areas to improve lighting. They whittled the list down to 12 by focusing on several criteria.

Among them, they chose sites that hosted a large number of students from several schools. They also considered the stops that are darker in the morning.

"We tried to prioritize," Smith said.

Three of the 12 are on California Street, at Forzando Avenue and Sandusky and Narrow streets. There are a lot of students that use California Street, Smith explained. Plus the street is dark and the speed limit is 55 mph, she said.

Smith added that Harper's death was a deciding factor behind the extra lights on California.

The other lights will be added at the intersections of: Nightwalker Road at Noddy Tern Road; Knuckey Road at Missouri Skylark Road; Lake Lindsey Road at Old Crystal River Road; Old Crystal River Road at Our Road; Snow Memorial Highway at Lake Lindsey Road; Madrid Road at Flatwood Avenue; Ponce De Leon Boulevard at Hebron Church Road; Thrasher Avenue at Merganser Road; and Companero Entra at Lily Drive.

The pads will be installed at Shoal Line at Waverly; Glenchester at Otter; Olancha at Ohio; and Old Crystal River Road at Our.

There will be a one-time cost of $750 for installing the lights and pads, followed by an annual maintenance cost of $1,050.

Work is expected to begin within 30 days.