Helping students stay safe during the
West Davis Corridor Project
Several schools along the western edge of Davis School District have a front row seat to the West Davis Corridor Project construction zone.
To help students stay safe during the process, representatives from the Utah Department of Transportation are planning to visit multiple schools.
“We are here to just educate, teach and have fun with them so it doesn’t become drudgery, but something they can remember,” said Safe Routes Outreach Coordinator Lyenna Kemp. “We can help them become familiar with all of the machines, caution tape and everything, so it’s not strange anymore and it kills the curiosity, which keeps them away.”
Students at Kay’s Creek Elementary learned that 30 students represent the weight of a small car, 100 students equal the weight of a truck and 1,000 students weigh a similar amount to one of UDOT’s bulldozers driving past the school delivering dirt to the construction site.
“Our bulldozers have massive, huge tires and if a student is standing by them, they are too close,” said Kemp. “In general, we want them to stay out of the zone entirely, which is why we show them how to look for cones and caution tape.”
Students took turns working their way through an obstacle course set up by UDOT representatives. They waited at stop signs while other students pretending to be trucks crossed their path, obeyed the yield signs going through the construction site and went around caution tape guarding ditches and construction equipment.
“Even as adults, I think we forget the rules, so we want to draw their attention to it, make it fun, but also, to be safe,” said Kemp.