School route safety and junction modifications

Suotie, Mattila 

A large number of schoolchildren use the road, which poses significant safety risks. The road is also increasingly being used as a through route. Through traffic in the Mattila area should be prohibited with traffic signs, and only access to properties should be permitted. 

Intersection of Tuusulantie and Suotie 

For just over two weeks, we have been monitoring the flow of pupils to Kirkonkylä School and the car and bus traffic in the school area. Local residents are extremely concerned about the safety of children on their way to school. We hope that the municipality will respond quickly to improve the safety of children’s routes to school. 

Most of the children coming from Mattila and living south of Tuusulantie cross Tuusulantie at the Suotie intersection. Only a few of those travelling to school from the aforementioned direction use the underpass at Kirkonkylä School. The underpass is not currently a very safe option after crossing Tuusulantie. When exiting the underpass, schoolchildren have to navigate traffic, including charter buses and private cars, in order to get their bicycles to the bicycle parking area behind the school. This is precisely why more and more schoolchildren have chosen to cross Tuusulantie at the Suotie intersection so that they can get to the bicycle parking area behind the school without having to navigate between private cars and charter buses. 

We propose improving safety at the Tuusulantie and Suotie intersection during school hours. We propose temporarily lowering the speed limit to 30 km/h at the Tuusulantie-Suotie intersection on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. This can be implemented with temporary variable speed limit signs. The first schoolchildren are already on the move at 7 a.m., and the last buses carrying afternoon club members arrive at the school at around 4.30 p.m. 

In addition, we propose flashing lights for the Tuusulantie-Suotie intersection. Flashing lights are a lightweight and inexpensive solution to implement, and they significantly increase safety in the intersection area.

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