Neighbors discuss speeding
No agreement made; Fort Worth police initiate ‘zero-tolerance’ policy

By Ram Luthra
Staff Reporter

Members of the area neighborhood met Thursday night and discussed, but could not reach a solid agreement on, how to reduce speeding around Alice Carlson Elementary School.

TCU officials, Fort Worth Police officers, Transportation and Public Works officials, area church members, neighborhood residents and concerned parents were in attendance at a University West Neighborhood Association meeting to address the major issues of speeding, parking and the safety of children who attend the elementary school.

Richard Henderson, a TCU alumnus, lives near the campus and has a child attending Alice Carlson Elementary. He said TCU commuters have a habit of speeding during times when he picks up his daughter from school.

“There are a lot of people who speed by the elementary school,” Henderson said. “The majority of people that drive fast in the school zone have TCU parking stickers. I have almost been hit by one of them. TCU students need to remember what the rules are and follow them.”

Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs, said TCU students are not entirely to blame.

“Students care a lot for the children because they like them,” Mills said. “Some TCU students may speed, but certainly not the entire population.”

Greg Hughes, president of the neighborhood association, said he organized the meeting a couple of months ago after many people complained about safety issues on the streets around the school.

“I did not start this meeting because I personally have a problem with the situation,” Hughes said prior to the meeting. “It was primarily a result of all the different issues that were brought to our attention. Though the issues varied, it was apparent that a central problem existed and something had to be done about it.”

Hughes said, after the meeting, he did not think anything would be solved from this meeting, but the neighborhood and the TCU community could develop a two-way dialogue for future meetings.

“I don’t think in a matter of two hours this meeting will ultimately solve all our problems,” Hughes said. “Rather, it will be a precedent and lead to positive incremental changes in the future. People present at this meeting started a long-term, on-going process that hopefully, can ease the complications of our neighborhood.”

Joe Ternus, assistant director of the Fort Worth Transportation and Public Works Department, said TCU’s traffic situation is complicated by the number of events that take place around the campus throughout the year.

Hughes, in his first year as the president of the neighborhood association, said he wants to involve TCU students in the decision-making process.

“We need to begin to have students engage in neighborhood activities and have them address any issues that are important to them,” Hughes said after the meeting. “It is vital to get the students involved in any way possible.”

Fort Worth Police Sgt. Oscar Ramirez said the meeting demonstrated that problems exist. Early next week several patrol officers will be writing tickets to people committing any violations, he said.

“We will have to exercise a zero-tolerance policy to reduce people from such things,” he said. “We will be visible and write citations for the people that speed, run stop signs, pass school buses or anything else.”

Mills said he encourages Fort Worth police officers to give tickets to people that commit violations.

“I advocate the police to pull people over, even students, for speeding,” he said. “It sets a good tone and gives people the idea that safety is a major concern.”

Ram Luthra
r.d.luthra@student.tcu.edu