With the new school year officially getting underway, local leaders and officials gathered at the school Wednesday morning to celebrate the recent installation of a guardrail on U.S. 278 in front of West Elementary School. 

State Sen. Garlan Gudger, Mayor Woody Jacobs and all of the members of the Cullman City Council were joined by West Elementary Principal Jay Page and Alabama Department of Transportation North Region Engineer Curtis Vincent to mark the occasion before the school’s students returned to the classroom.

Before the installation of the guardrail, the front of the school was only protected by a decorative fence, and a vehicle actually crashed through the fence and drove into West Elementary’s playground area in June of 2018, Page said.

“We didn’t really have much of a barrier,” he said. 

There were one or two other times that a car had run off the highway and gotten close to the school, but seeing one get onto campus highlighted the need for better protection, he said. 

“It was a very unfortunate situation but it alerted us to see the safety concerns we had about our school,” he said. 

After the wreck, Cullman City Schools Superintendent Susan Patterson worked with Jacobs and Gudger to make a request for a guardrail to ALDOT, and Page said he spoke with Vincent several times during the seven or eight months it took to see the project come to fruition. 

“He was very good about the whole process,” he said. 

Vincent said ALDOT has several factors to consider when they are looking at installing guardrails in an area, including the impact they will have on both traffic and pedestrians. 

A guardrail can provide protection for people who are next to the road, but it is also another object that can be hit by traffic, he said.

“You have to be very considerate of where you put it and where you don’t put it,” he said. 

Vincent said ALDOT has follow certain criteria to determine the suitability of a guardrail such as the speed of traffic on the road and distance the rail would be from the edge of the road, and in this case, engineers found that it would benefit both drivers and pedestrians.

“We just wanted it to be a safe measure to protect the school, but we also wanted to make sure it was safe for the traveling public on the roadway,” he said. 

Vincent also recognized the city’s efforts and their willingness to sit down and work with ALDOT on this and other projects around the city. 

“We’re very appreciative to work with a city and a community that is willing to work with ALDOT on issues,” he said. “Mayor Jacobs and Sen. Gudger have been great with working with us on the projects we have going around Cullman.”

While the installation of the guardrail should help protect drivers and pedestrians throughout the year, the timing is also good for the school and its students and faculty. 

This year’s school year is beginning with COVID-19 restrictions in place, and having the guardrail in place will give teachers and administrators some peace of mind in knowing the students have a safe place to be outside, Page said.

“We need to have those areas to spread out,” he said. 

Tyler Hanes can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238.