AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — The Problem Solvers are getting some answers this week from Aurora officials about the dangerous stretch of road near Smoky Hill High School, first reported by FOX31 Thursday night.

Video showed a car hitting a student earlier this week. The 16-year-old is said to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Aurora Police Department.

Since the crash, school officials are taking safety concerns straight to the city.

Neighbors, Smoky Hill officials concerned about road

FOX31 broke this story and continues his reporting as school officials weigh in, as well as like Mike Davis. He reached out to the Problem Solvers after the story aired, highlighting the issues on Smoky Hill Road near the high school.

Davis sent pictures from a crash late last year, right by the school, which ended in his yard. Luckily, no students were hurt.

“I think that school zone’s way too small,” he said, adding: “The length of the actual area, I think it should be more like a quarter mile, half mile. They need to spread that out, give people time to slow down when it’s actually important.”

FOX31 learned Smoky Hill High School’s assistant principal sent a letter to Aurora’s traffic manager a day after this week’s crash, asking for additional safety enhancements, through additional school zones, more signage and possibly even more lights near Smoky Hill High School and Laredo Middle School.

Here’s the full letter:

Ms. Campuzano,

I am an Assistant Principal at Smoky Hill HS. Your name was given to me by some parents from our School Accountability Committee. I believe you were working with them on the traffic light timing at E. Smoky Hill Rd/S. Laredo St.

I am reaching out to inquire about the process for establishing additional School Zones and/or more signage, flashing lights, etc. at crosswalks or other traffic mitigation efforts around SHHS and LMS. We had a terrible accident yesterday where a student pedestrian was injured on Smoky Hill Rd. in conjunction with an accident.

This year alone we have had three major accidents on Smoky Hill Rd. in front of the school. Last year a student pedestrian was struck crossing Smoky Hill Rd. as well. It is very common for vehicles to be speeding on Laredo St. as well during drop-off and pick-up times.

I would also like to analyze more formal data on motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents around the schools on Smoky Hill Rd and Laredo St as well to support our need for these enhancements. Is that information you can access or is there a process for me to do so?

Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you and having some productive dialogue around the safety of our students.

Christopher Ness, assistant principal, Smoky Hill High School

Aurora weighs in Smoky Hill Road problems

Meanwhile, FOX31 also heard from Aurora in a statement detailing the recent study they’ve conducted on traffic lights in the area. Here’s that statement:

A few months ago, traffic engineering staff conducted a field review and updated the signal timing at Smoky Hill Road and South Laredo Street and for South Laredo Street and East Buffalo Way. Observations—in close coordination with staff at Smoky Hill High School—were conducted during multiple days last November. About 2,100 students currently attend the school and access to all parking and drop off activities occurs exclusively through the Laredo Street and Buffalo Way intersection. Although the signal timing has been updated and optimized, the roadway network remains over capacity for about 30 minutes during school time periods due to heavy traffic volumes. It’s important to note that area high schools of this size typically experience these types of peaks in traffic volumes during pick up and drop off, and a certain amount of congestion is to be expected.

Following this week’s incident, Smoky Hill High School contacted Public Works in hopes of an additional study about vehicle and pedestrian safety. As public safety is a priority for the city of Aurora, Public Works is assigning a team to conduct a crash review in this area to screen for any correctable patterns and see if further changes are warranted. City staff will continue to work closely with school staff on this effort.

Residents can reach out to our Public Works staff at publicworks@auroragov.org if they have further questions about traffic patterns.

We encourage all drivers to follow the rules of the road and adhere to posted speed limits, and all pedestrians to be alert along roadways.

Michael Brannen, Aurora spokesperson

FOX31 will continue to follow developments about this intersection.