The Delano City Council approved a new stop sign near the intersection where a 12-year-old girl was hit by a truck and killed, while walking to school in November. It's a change, but not the one that family and residents had hoped for.
Stuffed animals, flowers and purple ribbons at the corner of Browning Road and Summer Drive in Delano, serve as a reminder of the tragic death of 12-year-old Shaylyn Pinoliar. In November, residents asked city council members to put a stop sign at the intersection to prevent something like this from happening again.
Once school gets out the street is very busy with kids walking home and parents coming to pick up their children from school. Soon, there will be a new stop sign at the corner of Browning Road and 20th Avenue, but many people want the stop sign down the street where the girl was hit.
McFarland Resident, Hope Martinez, said, "Probably at both streets because, you know. The kids, they pass by there and I know that on Cecil there's a stop sign with the little flashing lights, but there's a lot of homes there and I'm pretty sure there's a lot of children that come walking."
Delano Resident, Hermilindo Bruan, said, "There should be because the school's right there and a lot of kids walk to school and there's no stop signs. Cars just, now a days, they just don't like to stop."
Delano city officials didn't respond to our request for comment on the new stop sign. One week ago, City Engineer Roman Dowling told the city council traffic surveys show more people cross at the 20th Avenue intersection. He didn't return our calls about the issue.
Shaylyn's mother, Elsa Pinoliar, said something should be done where her daughter was hit. She said she would like to see the details of the city's study.
Meanwhile, residents say there is a need for more traffic control. Martinez said, "There should be one at every, because it's, look what happened to that poor little girl. It was a big tragedy right there. So young, she had her whole life ahead of her."
There may not be a stop sign, but there are crosswalks and flashing lights to alert drivers of pedestrians crossing both at the Summer Drive and 20th Avenue intersections.
