Schools

Crosswalk Flags Installed Around Colusa Circle

Following a 10-year-old Kensington girl being hit in a Colusa Avenue crosswalk near Colusa Circle in October, the Kensington Hilltop Elementary School PTA installed crosswalk flags at several locations around the circle Sunday.

Bright orange crosswalk flags were installed on poles in the vicinity of Colusa Circle in Kensington Sunday, following an October accident in which a 10-year-old girl was hit by a car in a nearby Colusa Avenue crosswalk.

The idea is that a person entering the crosswalk picks up a flag on one side to be more visible to traffic and then leaves it in the container on the other side.

"Kensington Hilltop PTA invites everyone in the community to grab one or two flags when crossing the street as they might contribute to greater visibility," said Leslie Reckler, who heads the PTA's intersection flags projects.

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The flags were paid for and sponsored by the PTA, which has previously installed crossing flags at several crosswalk intersections in Kensington, mostly around the school and some around Arlington Avenue, according to Reckler.

The PTA worked with the Contra Costa County Public Works Department, which takes care of streets in unincorporated Kensington, and secured permission to use the poles that hold street and traffic signs.

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A Patch reporter Sunday saw six new containers for flags – four at corners around Colusa Circle and two near the crosswalk where the girl was hit.

The girl, a student at the Kensington school, was taken to a hospital after the accident, and her family told Patch that evening that she did not appear to have suffered serious injuries.

Each "flag" is not a conventional flag but consists of several plastic streamers attached to one end of a short stick.

"We'd like to thank everyone at Contra Costa Public Works and offer special appreciation to Gregory Stelzner and Monish Sen (of the Public Works Department) for their collaborative partnership!" Reckler said. 

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