Five Port St. Lucie Bus Stop Shelters Now in Place as School Year Approaches
Schools open August 18
Drivers: Please remember to use extra caution – especially in the early morning dark hours when tired children are out on every street in Port St. Lucie
Parents: Talk to your children now about the importance of being extra alert when walking to school. Tell them to assume drivers can’t see them. Urge them to wear a flashing strobe light and to stay off the road as much as possible.
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| Workers guide a prefabricated school bus stop shelter into place at the intersection of Savona Blvd. and Hunnicut Ave. |
Kids: Remember, you have to look out for yourself. Don’t expect adult drivers to do it for you.
Many Port St. Lucie kids will now have a safe place to wait for their early morning bus ride to school as five new specially designed bus shelters have been installed at strategic locations throughout the city.
The new shelters are part of the City Council’s ongoing efforts to eliminate the tragic accidents that have occurred while kids have been out in the pre-dawn hours trying to catch their busses to get to school. Other efforts to protect children have included a city- and countywide educational campaign about road safety, the distribution of flashing lights at schools, and the addition of several miles of new sidewalks leading to every school in the city.
The educational campaign is intended to teach kids, parents and drivers about the importance of using extra caution on the roads during the early morning hours when kids are out walking in the dark to their bus stops. The flashing lights were given to kids in all Port St. Lucie schools, mostly by police officers, to wear on their belts or backpacks when walking.
The new shelters cost $15,000 each and have been placed in areas that traffic engineers, police officers and school officials agreed would provide the most needed safety.
“It's going to take an effort from everyone in the community to make sure our youngest residents stay safe,” Mayor Patricia Christensen said. “We hope drivers will slow down and kids will take advantage of the new shelters and stay out of the road.”
The shelters are enclosed by shatter-proof glass walls and have a bench for sitting. They are 8-feet deep by 16-feet wide and are set on a concrete pad. Protected by four steel and concrete posts, the shelters have an aluminum roof, lighting and are covered with graffiti-resistant paint. Each shelter weighs about 15,000 pounds.
Shelter locations
- Southeast Maleleuca and Berkshire boulevards
- Southwest Savona Boulevard and Girard Avenue
- Southwest Savona Boulevard and Hunnicut Avenue
- East Torino Parkway and Peacock Run
- East Torino Parkway and Rabbit Run
For more information, contact:
Ed Cunningham
Communications Director
City of Port St. Lucie
(772) 871-5219