11-13-39 Council Meeting Minutes

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Be it remembered that the Common Council of in the Council Chambers, City Hall, Monday,, was absent and Vice - President Hull presided. was suspended._ 163; the City of South Bend,_ Indiana, met in regular sessi November 13, 1939, at 7:35 P.M. President McCarthy The.reading of the minutes of the previous meeting REPORT OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY(Communication) The Common Council of the City of South Bend, Ind. November 13, 1939 Ge nt lemen : Through Mr. Ernest H. Miller, Traffic Engineer, the Board contacted the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railway relative to the condition that exists at the intersection.of their tracks with Olive Street. This morning, Mr. Andrest, General Superintendent of the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Rail way appeared before the Board relative to.the situation and stated that they had made a survey of this intersection and determined to make -a safety stop of all trains crossing Olive Street before, entering into the intersection. This, of course, is the best possible protection for any intersection and we have recommended that this procedure be followed. By safety stops we mean all trains coming to a complete . stop before entering the intersection just as all vehicles are required to do,befo.re entering a pref- erential street which is marked with a Stop Sign. Very truly yours, BOARD OF PUBLIC SAFETY By George N. Beamer, Chairman IOouncilman Niezgodski made a motion that the communication be kept in the Council for a period of two-weeks. Councilman Richardson seconded the motion. Motion carried. We. the undersigned-, hereby respectfully petition the Mayor and Council of the City of South Bend Indiana to remedy the traffic situation described below: School children living on the north easterly side of Lincolnway East between Sample Street and Western Avenue attend the Benjamin Franklin school located at the corner of Sample and Clinton streets. This necessitates their crossing of Lincolnway East, one of the principal traffic arteries of South Bend. They have been instructed by school authorities to cross said street at Bronson street. Some years ago a school child was severely injured at this crossing and subsequently a traffic light was installed. Thereafter, school children could cross Lincolnway East safely. In= -the summer of 1937 the city of South Bend, upon the recommendation of Mr. Miller, its traffic engineer, suddenly removed this traffic light despite the protests of residents concerned. The reason given for said removal was that the light created a hazard resulting in rear -end colli- sions of automobiles. Parents were then promised by Mayor Freyermuth. that police protection would be given the school children at this corner. For a few days this protection wa`s given and subsequently dropped. During' the school year of 1938 -1939 the sole protection to children was by boy patrols who becaus+ of traffic conditions were unable to adequately cope with the situation. On Lincolnway East there is no traffic control between Jefferson Blvd. and Sample street with the result-that auto- mobiles travel at a high rate of speed and often two abreast at the Bronson street crossing. This is particularly true in the morning and at noon when people are hurrying to and from work. Double street car tracks add to this hazard. No heed is given by motorists to warning signs or to boy patrols. As a result of this hazardous situation many parents found it necessary to take their children to and from school every day. At that time a petition was prepared by interested parents requesting the re- installation of the traffic light at this corner. Since Lincolnway East had then been placed under state jurisdictioi as a state highway, the city of South Bend no longer had jurisdiction on the subject, and the state refused to reinstall it since there was an insufficient amount of cross traffic to warrent it in their estimation. In the fall of 1.939 .an interested parent was successful in securing some police protection for a few minutes in the morning. However, on many mornings no police officer has been on the corner, with the result that parents are never certain that protection is being provided. Also, no protection other than boy patrols is ever, given at other times of day. During the school week of October 16, 1939, interested parents made an accurate check of vehicles passing the intersection of Lincolnway East and Bronson streets during those periods when school children cross. These statistics are given in the accompanying table. In view of these conditions, and supported by attached data, we submit our request for your co- operation in securing an immediate solution to the problem of providing adequate police protecti for our school children at the corner of Lincolnway East and Bronson streets. Respectfully submitted by 1. Parent Teachers Association of Benjamin Franklin School. By motion made and carried at meeting Oct. 12, 1939• �2. Executive committee of parents meeting under the above authority. 3. Interested parties residing in the dangerous area, consisting of parents,zelatives and other citizens. (signatures attached)