With the first day of school quickly approaching, parents and drivers should head out with a bit more time and patience, police say.
Classes resume on Aug. 14 and with that comes the activation of reduced speeds in school zones, more traffic and parents and kids walking near area schools.
Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Maj. Jose Gonzalez, commander for the agency’s Miami Lakes Division, said during the July 15 council meeting that drivers need to be alert and patient as classes resume.
“Every school year, you’re always going to have a group of parents who are new to that school, we call it the first-year parents,” Gonzalez said.
Those parents may not be familiar with traffic patterns or schedules and may have children who are new to a school and not ready to start the day.
It happens most frequently at Bob Graham Education Center, Gonzalez said.
“You’ve got to negotiate to get them out of the car, that’s the hold up in the morning,” Gonzalez said. “Until the kid gets comfortable getting out of the car without having to have a negotiation in the car, that holds up traffic.”
To manage the drop off lines at Bob Graham Education Center, deputies will be stationed at Northwest 77 Court and Northwest 154 Street to ensure that traffic flows.
Drivers should be mindful of the school zones in town, which require motorists to slow to 15 mph as they travel through them, and watch for the flashing lights that can be overhead or on the side of the road.
Drivers taking children to Miami Lakes K-8 Center and Bob Graham Education Center should also be aware of the school crossing guards.
There are 10 guards and one supervisor who patrol at the two elementary schools in town.
Crossing guards’ Supervisor Gary Cardenas wants drivers to notice when they enter a school zone and to turn down music, put down their phones and watch other motorists.
“Be alert of where you are, where you’re going,” Cardenas said.
He also wants drivers to remember that kids are everywhere around school campuses and can dart out into traffic.
“Watch out for the school buses, watch out for the police officers who may be directing the traffic, or the crossing guards who need to come out to the middle of the street,” Cardenas said.
He also cautioned drivers who may be turning right on red when a school crossing guard is present.
“They believe once the student is out of the crosswalk that they can go,” Cardenas said. But drivers need to wait until the crossing guard has exited the crosswalk and returned to the sidewalk before completing their right turn.
“You must wait,” Cardenas said. “That’s the law. Once the pedestrian or the crossing guard has set foot on the road, traffic must stop.”
For kids who walk or ride bikes to school, Cardenas said they should wait until the crossing guard gives them instructions before entering the street.
Following are school speed zones in town, where drivers must slow down before classes begin in the morning and when kids are released in the afternoon.
Miami Lakes K-8 Center
• On northbound Northwest 67 Avenue, the speed zone starts at White Oak Drive and ends a half block before Harris Terrace. Southbound drivers must adhere to the reduced speed limit until Crooked Palm Terrace.
• On Miami Lakeway East, the speed zone is from Silver Oak Drive to Northwest 67 Avenue.
• All of White Oak Drive, from Miami Lakeway South to Northwest 67 Avenue.
• Westbound drivers on East Miami Lakeway meet the school zone at Lake Saranac Avenue.
• Though a sign needs to be replaced, the bus loop at the school is only open to buses and police cars.
Miami Lakes Middle School and Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic School
• Northbound drivers on Northwest 67th Avenue must slow a half block from Miami Lakeway North until Kilmarnock Drive/Optimist Park.
• Southbound drivers on Northwest 67 Avenue will must adhere to the posted speeds at Kilmarnock Drive until a half block south of Miami Lakeway North, when traffic passes Our Lady of the Lakes Parish.
• Westbound drivers on Miami Lakeway North will slow down near Celebration Point before nearing Miami Lakes Middle School and stay slow until they cross Northwest 67 Avenue.
• Northwest 64 Avenue is a school zone, from the south parking lot of Miami Lakes Optimist Park, and speed controls continue on Miami Lakeway North until it passes the schools and crosses Northwest 67th Avenue.
Bob Graham Education Center
• Traffic going in both directions on Northwest 79 Avenue, north of Northwest 154th Street.
Barbara Goleman Senior High School
• Palmetto Frontage Road, west of Northwest 87th Avenue, is posted 15 mph just before the roundabout near campus.
• Northwest 89 Avenue has posted school zone signs, from the roundabout near campus north to Northwest 145 Street.