New speed limit, crosswalk signs installed

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

If you drive northbound or southbound along N. Franklin St. near Vantage Career Center in Van Wert, you’ll notice some new signage.

New 20 mile per hour speed limit signs with flashing lights were installed on Thursday, just north and south of the school, along with flashing crosswalk signs at entrance of the main campus and the future Vantage Academy of Medical Careers, which will be housed in the former Thomas Edison building across the street.

The crosswalk is similar to the one on E. Main St. near the Van Wert County Courthouse, with a push button and flashing yellow crossing lights. All of the new signs, including crosswalk signs, will be fully operational once the new school year begins in August.

“We would just ask the public for continued awareness because the safety of our students is the No. 1 concern,” Turner stated.

Turner also noted the school zone has been extended south to Trinity Friends Church, which houses Kingdom Connection Academy, a school that opened last fall.

With an eye on increased foot traffic and motor vehicle traffic with the Medical Careers Academy and the pending Bonnewitz Crossing extension, Turner approached Van Wert City Council last May to request a lit school zone/pedestrian crossing zone. Turner also had previous discussions with the city and with former Van Wert County MRDD Superintendent Jim Stripe about making the area safer for students.

“Mr. Stripe, the city council, Jay Fleming and the mayor (Ken Markward) were excellent to work with,” Turner said.

“We have discussed this for a few years and with the nursing school going in across the street from Vantage we together decided it was time to do something to make the area as safe as possible,” Fleming said. “This should do a good job until Bonnewitz Crossing is built and the intersection gets a traffic light.”

Turner said other options were considered to get students across the street but those options were cost prohibitive.

“We talked about a bridge over (the street) but that was going to be $3-4 million,” he explained. “We talked about a tunnel under Franklin St. and that was not feasible costwise either, so this was the most workable solution.”

According to Fleming, the cost of the new signs and lights was $65,000, which was split between the city and Vantage.