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Neighbors warned city a student would be hit near First Coast HS, almost a year before it happened

Neighbors hoped for a crosswalk but never got one.

First Coast News has learned at least one neighbor warned the city a student would be hit by a car walking to or from First Coast High School almost a year before it happened.

A student was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries after being hit by a vehicle Friday morning near First Coast High School, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

One neighbor who asked not to be identified gave First Coast News an email exchange with Mayor Lenny Curry and the Traffic Engineering Division.

“On any given day when school dismisses, the students cross in droves expecting cars to stop,” the concerned neighbor wrote the mayor on March 20. “There has got to be a remedy to this issue.”

First Coast News cameras captured the dangers of the intersection.

Students dodged traffic at the same intersection where a classmate was hit earlier.

First Coast News cameras caught drivers making illegal left turns near the place the student was hit

An email response that appears to have come from the mayor said his office would inform the appropriate departments.

On March 25, the neighbor says he received a response from Christopher LeDew, Traffic Engineering Division chief.

“We will investigate this issue and determine how we can install sidewalk and a pedestrian crossing,” the email reads. “Please be aware that we will need to coordinate with the high school to find the best solution.”

Ten months later, there is no crosswalk but there is a student in the hospital.

The Traffic Engineering Division could not be reached for comment on this story.

It’s important to note, there is an intersection less than a quarter mile down the street with a crosswalk and a traffic light. However, dozens of students still crossed Duval Station Road at one of the school entrances, to get to the stores, gas stations and homes across the street.

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