‘If one kid gets hurt, it’s one kid too many’ BVSD family leads response to safeguard student pedestrians following serious crosswalk collisions

Now when pedestrians approach the crosswalks on Baseline Road near 95th Street in Lafayette they are encouraged to “Take It to Make It.’ 

“We made these signs to put on these buckets that had flags in them,” explained Willow Fletemeyer, an eighth grader at Nevin Platt Middle School. “They say, ‘Take It to Make It.’ When you're about to cross the road you hold up the flag so that cars can see you when you're crossing.” 

Fletemeyer and her family felt like they had to do something, after two BVSD students, one from Platt Middle School and the other from Centaurus High School, were hit by cars, while crossing Baseline Road on back-to-back days last September.

She witnessed the aftermath of the first incident after hearing a commotion while walking home.

“I could see someone lying in the middle of the road and my dad told me to go home,” Fletemeyer recalled. 

WATCH: Willow shared her story during the Student Moment at the Board of Education Meeting on December 10, 2024
 

PHOTO: Willow with the BVSD Board of Education

It hit especially close to home because she had used the same crosswalk only moments earlier and knew the girl who was hit.

“When my dad came home he was really, really scared. I remember trying to comfort him. He described the girl he had seen and I had walked home with her the day before,” Fletemeyer said. “It could happen to any of us in the crosswalk.”

PHOTO: Willow wrote an article for the Indian Peaks Stroll Magazine

In the days after the incidents, the neighborhood came together to protect students who regularly use the crosswalks on Baseline.

“Our community is really tight knit and the response in my neighborhood and school was incredible. A bunch of parents stepped up to help stand at the crosswalk so that students and other people can cross safely,” Fletemeyer said. “A bunch of students at my school stepped up too. We all made posters and signs.”

Lafayette police officers have pitched in too, increasing traffic enforcement in the area.

“The police have done a really good job, giving people tickets if they're speeding and a bunch of other traffic issues. Five days after the accidents, there were 62 tickets handed out. That is a lot,” Fletemeyer said.

Now the Fletemeyers and their neighbors are looking for a longer term change. 

They’re encouraging pedestrians to cross very carefully, drivers to slow down and pay attention and petitioning the city to take steps to improve safety measures in the area.

“I think that it would be very helpful if we could lower the speed limit in the area,” Fletemeyer said. “Right now it's 40 [miles per hour], and that is really fast. That's really fast for cars to pass through with two different crosswalks in the midst of it. And I think we should at least lower it to 35 [miles per hour], as well as maybe making the road a single lane. That might mean more traffic, but cars would be going slower. Right now, it is two lanes.”

There is also talk that the city has plans for a traffic light in the area. She and her neighbors can’t wait.

The Boulder Valley School District participates in the federal Safe Routes to School program, which aims to improve student safety as they walk, bike, and roll to school. A representative from the district’s program has been working closely with city leaders to consider ways to improve safety in the area of the incidents.