Inquirer: Should Head Start centers get school zone status?

A Concerned Reader is concerned for the safety of little folks who attend the Head Start Pre-K program at the old Benning Hills Elementary on Munson Drive. And he's got a point.

"Munson Drive is the street that the old Benning Hills Elementary is on. That building now houses a Pre-K and another kids facility. My concern is the speeding that happens on that road during drop off and pick up times.

"There is a school zone light there, but it's never on for some reason. There are also SLOW signs that have been neglected (dirty or blocked). I would hate to see one of our future doctors or newspaper writers get hit by a speeding car. This problem is correctable. I don't know if this is a School District or Enrichment Services issue. Either way it's a Columbus issue and needs to be addressed."

Future doctors or newspaper writers? Wow. That pretty much covers the intellectual spectrum.

Anyway, I drove out to Benning Hills to check out the situation. I couldn't find a school zone warning light, whether it was flashing or not. In fact, on Munson, I could find only one warning sign while driving north past the campus and none driving south back past it. There seemed to be a couple on side streets, but just the one on Munson, where the kids are picked up and dropped off.

And while we're on it, I didn't see a single speed limit sign the entire length of Munson. But that's not unusual. In case you didn't know, if there isn't a posted speed limit, it's 30 mph. Not that folks pay much attention to that.

Anyway, I called the city's traffic engineering department and spoke to Doc Corsey, the manager there. Doc told me that they create a school zone with signs and warning lights and lower speed limits around all the city's elementary, middle and high schools, but that Head Start facilities are not the same thing. There might be a few around the Benning Hills place because it's housed in an old elementary school.

There are four Head Starts in the city, so I checked out the other three, because gas is pretty cheap now.

The one housed in the old Muscogee Elementary on Cusseta Road is like Benning Hills, with some left-over school zone warnings. The one on Boxwood Place near the library has none, nor does the one on 27th Street.

Dorsey said if the city leaders want to change the policy to include Head Start facilities, it could be done easily enough, but that's a decision made higher up the food chain.

Well I'll see some of those folks Tuesday when I cover council's 5:30 meeting. (It's OK to be jealous.) And I'll ask them what they think.

Meanwhile, slow down around the Head Start centers, even if it's not the law. Yet.

Seen something that needs attention? Contact me at 706-571-8570 or mowen@ledger-enquirer.com.

This story was originally published December 13, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Inquirer: Should Head Start centers get school zone status? ."