For Girl Scout Troop 2231, earning their bronze badge means tackling a real-world problem, starting with traffic safety near the city library.
The troop, consisting of fifth graders at Moyer Elementary School in Fort Thomas, gave a presentation to the Fort Thomas City Council on Feb. 17. They petitioned for a solar-powered flashing light and crosswalk at Campbell County Public Library on Highland Avenue similar to the one they have at Moyer.
The girls are seeking their bronze badge. The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior (grades fourth and fifth) can earn, representing a significant team-based project to improve their community. The Girl Scouts also asked for curb extensions and a speed bump to slow people down.
“It would benefit the people of Fort Thomas so people don’t get hurt crossing the street and people can use the library without risk,” said one of the troops.
The troops said the crosswalk could be a factor in slowing down cars on Highland Avenue. They even collected data on car speeds on the avenue to back their request.
Two of the scouts, Kenzie and Thea, explained the process to the council.
“We sat on the side of the road writing down the speeds of the cars they were going,” the girls said. “It took us a week, but we got nine hours of data from different days and times.”
They tracked over 2,130 cars traveling down the hill on Highland Avenue. They did not track the cars as they went up the hill.
“We took the speeds of many cars, and most of them were speeding,” the Girl Scouts said.
The average speed they recorded was 28.2 miles per hour on the posted 25-mile-per-hour road, but they said some cars were detected exceeding 40 miles per hour. The troops tracked car speeds with the radar on Highland Avenue. The data was collected mostly in the afternoons between 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., with one morning of data from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
The Girl Scouts said that while they were tracking the cars, there were pedestrians crossing the street and using the sidewalk. They counted an average of 20.5 walkers per hour. The troops said about four people crossed the street without a crosswalk each hour.
Scouts Danni and Olivia said they walked the city and asked neighbors for their thoughts on installing a crosswalk near the library. They collected more than 150 signatures in favor of the project.
“I think you guys have brought a great project, because you’re right, it is very hard to cross there because cars are going fast at that time, and having the light indication will give cars a chance to slow down,” Fort Thomas Mayor Andy Ellison said.
The troops have a meeting scheduled with Fort Thomas City Administrator Matt Kremer on March 5 to discuss their proposal in more depth.