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123 <br /> 9. Appendix <br /> Email Correspondence With Outreach Participants <br /> Dear Mr. Trivedi, <br /> Thank you for all your work at our Town and County level as Transportation Services Director. I <br /> attended the last council meeting that discussed "Safe Routes to School" and was impressed by <br /> everything your department is planing to do about the safety of student walkers to and from <br /> Cedar Ridge High School. <br /> I just wanted to comment on what I think can be done immediately to improve traffic and a <br /> particular issue in front of the school.There is a turn lane in front of Cedar Ridge and Grady Brown <br /> Elementary School. Some kids cross Grady Brown School Road while traffic is "intense" during <br /> drop off and pick up.At the same time, cars are turning in and out of Cedar Ridge High School <br /> onto Grady Brown Road.The traffic as you may know is erratic and many cars thatjust want to <br /> drive through (not picking anyone from the schools) speed straight through heading west on <br /> Grady Brown road. I have noticed that the reason these cars can speed through, is because they <br /> can get onto the turning lane and avoid the slow cars or stopped traffic turning into Cedar Ridge. <br /> My thought, is to simply cut that turning lane short (even blocking it with cones) so that cars don't <br /> get onto it to continue to go (speed) through going west on Grady Brown Road. I think this can <br /> improve the traffic issues in three very distinctive ways: <br /> 1. Can increase the safety of kids crossing the street between the two schools. As it <br /> would reduce speeds and improve visibility for cars to notice kids crossing. Or to <br /> simply slow down! <br /> 2. Improve the visibility of cars as people are exiting from Cedar Ridge onto Grady <br /> Brown as the turn east onto it. It is very hard to turn left as you exit Cedar Ridge <br /> because it is hard to see the incoming traffic. Specially when cars get on the <br /> median turning lane and are blocked by the incoming traffic that is turning into <br /> the school. <br /> 3. Slow down overall traffic and reduce some of the erratic driving that occurs. <br /> Specially, deterring people from doing U-turns on the median turning lane. <br /> Coincidentally, today I saw a patrol car with their lights on exactly where I'm suggesting we cut the <br /> turning median lane short, and the police officer didn't even have to direct traffic. He was inside <br /> the patrol car! <br /> Please see attached for an arial pictured with marked suggested block highlighted in red. <br /> Safe Routes to School <br /> Orange County,North Carolina 121 <br />