Student parking at Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church was suspended for the week of October 30th-November 3rd following concerns about student safety. Students were failing to adhere to a simple, but essential law; jaywalking.
The ministry’s director, Anna Morris-Facey, provided the following reasoning for the suspension in an email to Skyline parking students.
“[Sammamish Police Department] expressed concern over the safety of our students, as well as their desire NOT to ticket students for crossing illegally [across 8th street]” Morris-Facey stated. “… in an effort to enforce both our regulations and the city ordinances, as a consequence for students continuing to cross illegally, we are going to close the SHLC parking lot to all students for the week of Oct. 30th-Nov. 3rd.”
Hundreds of students daily who park or get picked up by their parents at the Lutheran church jaywalk across 8th street to get to the parking lot. For parking pass holders, they sign a contract agreeing to cross properly at 228th. But many still choose to ignore the law, and cross anyways to save time.
Jaywalking has become a hot topic in Washington State law in the past year. At the start of 2023, Senator Rebecca Saldaña proposed Senate Bill 5383, a bill that aimed to remove “criminal citation” of jaywalking. Saldaña argued that jaywalking laws disproportionally targeted minorities and low-income people. The bill was not successful in passing, with the Washington State Legislature officially ruling the file “X”.
ASB President Arjun Mandadi has a solution to the jaywalking epidemic at the church crossing. Arjun has been working with the city of Sammamish to build a crosswalk across 8th street after stating that he would do so in his campaign the previous year.
Although constructing a crosswalk seems as simple as painting a few white lines over the road, the project would be a giant undertaking for the city.
“Right now, [the crosswalk] is written in the TIP [Transportation Implementation Plan], and it’s unfunded, but it can be built at an $800,000 expense,” Arjun said.
Because of the electrical locations, underground construction would need to be conducted to reroute power to the crosswalk location.
With the winter months upon us, and more daylight being lost to savings, Arjun’s concerns about pedestrians being struck are at an all-time.
“…cars coming up the hill on 8th street can’t see the people who are crossing because students are jaywalking,” Arjun said. “…there is a very high chance that a car could hit a pedestrian. And we don’t want that.”
Funding for the crosswalk project is expected to be reached by the year 2026, far past Arjun’s presidency.
“…it is unfortunate that the city is unable to recognize the importance of a crosswalk,” Arjun said. “…students are unwilling to take the extra 10-minute walk to cross, when a crosswalk could be installed and could save students 10 minutes’ worth of time.”
As of publishing, student parking at the church has been reinstated and no crosswalk has been installed. To be clear, jaywalking remains illegal. Students are instructed to cross at the 228th and 8th street crosswalk. Stay safe when crossing in the morning and after school Spartans.