City of Topeka defends presence of school zones that aren’t close to schools

A spokeswoman for Topeka’s city government this past week defended the city’s practice of maintaining school speed zones on stretches of S.E. and S.W. 37th streets that aren’t particularly close to any public schools.

Those zones help protect students who walk to school through those areas, said Molly Hadfield, the city’s media relations coordinator. Maps of elementary schools, middle schools and high schools available on the website for Topeka Unified School District 501 indicate the elementary school the district maintains closest to the school zone location is Ross Elementary, 1400 S.E. 34th. The closest middle school is Eisenhower Middle School, 3305 S.E. Minnesota Ave., while the closest high school is Highland Park High School, 2424 S.E. California Ave.

Hadfield said Friday that the city maintains a pedestrian crossing in the school zone on S.E. 37th.

The school zone and crossing are in place to serve students who walk to Ross Elementary and Eisenhower Middle schools, she said.