When WCCUSD merged middle schools in Pinole, it caused an unintended side effect — traffic jams

In the morning and afternoon at Betty Reid Soskin at Pinole Middle School, students cross the street and weave through cars without a crosswalk or crossing guard. Cars double park and attempt illegal U-turns, risking head-on collisions. Drivers ignore prominent signage prohibiting left turns into the school, causing backups deep into the neighborhood. 

Susana Silva, parent of a seventh grader, sees cars lining up to make the illegal left turn. She had raised traffic concerns with the West Contra Costa Unified School District board before the academic year started, but that hasn’t made a difference. As she navigates drop off, avoiding students and other cars, Silva worries that someone might get hit. 

“I just feel that the safety of the kids was never really thought about or was never considered when they merged the schools,” Silva said. 

Working on a solution

Until this year, Pinole Middle shared its campus with West County Mandarin School, whose students were split between that campus and Betty Reid Soskin in El Sobrante. During budget cuts earlier this year, the district decided to merge Betty Reid Soskin with Pinole Middle to save administrative costs. It then moved all West Mandarin students to the former Betty Reid Soskin campus, giving West Mandarin — the only WCCUSD school with an enrollment waiting list — an opportunity to expand. 

West Mandarin directly employed crossing guards at the shared campus so students could safely cross the driveway, but the crossing guards are no longer there. 

This year, the campus has slightly fewer students, 788 compared with 849 last year, according to district spokesperson Elizabeth Sanders. The attendance area now stretches to El Sobrante.

Sanders said the district has worked with AC Transit and WestCAT to establish bus routes that serve the expanded attendance area. Before the school year, the district consulted with the city about potential traffic impacts, she said. Discussions with transit agencies and the city have continued. 

WCCUSD board member Jamela Smith-Folds did not respond to Richmond Confidential’s request for comment.

Near misses

Neighbors say that while congestion around the campus is much worse this school year, they have been complaining about dangerous traffic patterns there for several years, through calls, emails, and public comments at Pinole City Council and committee meetings. They worry the logjam may impede emergency vehicles during peak traffic times. 

After the merger, Travis Lund, who has lived across the street from the school since 2019, noticed the traffic in front of his house had “exploded.” 

“It was the school system’s decision to combine those schools,” Lund said. “It’s their responsibility to solve that problem.”

One early morning, Yasin Arif was crossing Pinole Middle’s drop-off exit with his child in a stroller. A driver failed to notice them, tried to make a right turn, and came to a sudden stop very close to him and his child. 

“I just felt like, what would have happened if my child got hit? My world would have turned upside down,” Arif said. “I just don’t want anyone to experience that, really, any of the parents here.”

Dozens of citations

In coordination with the school district, the city has already taken some measures to improve traffic and safety around the schools. There are two signs at the entrance and exit prohibiting left turns during drop-off and pick-up periods, extended red-painted curbs, and a designated drop-off zone. 

Pinole police issued 31 citations around the school since the Aug. 18 start of the semester, a public record released upon request this week shows.

Devin Murphy, mayor pro tempore, drops his own kids off at the middle school every day. In a video message on Pinole Community Television, he acknowledged the work that has already been done by the city and school district to manage traffic, and provided suggestions to drivers. 

“Signage and striping can only do so much. The rest is up to us,” Murphy said. “These small choices are how we protect each other’s kids and one another.”

(Top photo: Drivers enter Betty Reid Soskin at Pinole Middle School to pick up students after school on Mann Street, by Bomi Choe.)

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