Parents, teachers to rally for pedestrian safety at Albany High School | #schoolsaftey

ALBANY — The Parent Teacher Student Association will hold a rally outside Albany High School on Monday afternoon to urge the city to make safety improvements for pedestrians that the organization wants to see outside the high school.

The effort is inspired by a ninth-grade student who the organization said suffered from life-changing injuries when hit earlier this year by a car on Washington Avenue, where the high school is located. The rally begins at 3:30 p.m.

The PTSA said it has repeatedly asked the city to make traffic improvements around the school but nothing has been done. These are among the changes it wants to see now:

•    Adding flashing lights to the crosswalks
•    Adding pedestrian crossing signs along Washington Avenue between West Lawrence and Ontario streets
•    Making the crosswalks at entry points to the school more visible, perhaps by painting them bright yellow
•    Adding traffic cones on the yellow line to deter drivers from making U-turns

The group has also pitched long-term solutions that include reducing the number of lanes on the streets outside the high school, adding speed bumps to surrounding roads and adding bike lane markings similar to the ones on Madison Avenue.

City officials could not be reached for immediate comment.