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As students return to school this week at Davenport High School and the Davenport School of the Arts, they will see a safer pedestrian school zone along County Road 547 (Lee Jackson Highway) in northeast Polk. This summer, Polk County’s Roads & Drainage Division partnered with Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) and Duke Energy to expedite installations of new sidewalk, push-button activated pedestrian beacons at a crosswalk with reflective markings, and street lighting. Improvements were spurred by an early morning pedestrian crash in February that critically injured a 15-year-old student attempting to cross County Road 547 at the Davenport School of The Arts. As part of an action plan that included assistance from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the fast-tracked installations were based on plans engineered by PCPS. These latest pedestrian safety improvements follow a Polk County traffic signal project completed in 2022 at a shared entrance road between the schools. “I am most grateful and proud of the cooperation between all of these agencies that will provide a much safer pedestrian school zone in northeast Polk,” said District 4 Commissioner Martha Santiago. “This is a rapidly-growing corridor in our county, so it was critically important that we put public safety measures in place to protect our children as they walk to school.” For further details, contact Bill Skelton with the Polk County Roads & Drainage Division at (863) 535-2200.
As students return to school this week at Davenport High School and the Davenport School of the Arts, they will see a safer pedestrian school zone along County Road 547 (Lee Jackson Highway) in northeast Polk.
This summer, Polk County’s Roads & Drainage Division partnered with Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) and Duke Energy to expedite installations of new sidewalk, push-button activated pedestrian beacons at a crosswalk with reflective markings, and street lighting. Improvements were spurred by an early morning pedestrian crash in February that critically injured a 15-year-old student attempting to cross County Road 547 at the Davenport School of The Arts.
As part of an action plan that included assistance from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the fast-tracked installations were based on plans engineered by PCPS. These latest pedestrian safety improvements follow a Polk County traffic signal project completed in 2022 at a shared entrance road between the schools.
“I am most grateful and proud of the cooperation between all of these agencies that will provide a much safer pedestrian school zone in northeast Polk,” said District 4 Commissioner Martha Santiago. “This is a rapidly-growing corridor in our county, so it was critically important that we put public safety measures in place to protect our children as they walk to school.”
For further details, contact Bill Skelton with the Polk County Roads & Drainage Division at (863) 535-2200.