Traffic safety along Springwater Road, specifically the stretch that our school resides on, is becoming a bigger concern as our population of families increases.  There have been a number of incidents noted, such as cars traveling over the speed limit, reckless driving, drivers passing in the no passing zone, drivers passing the families who are pulling into the school, and even drivers passing the school bus loaded with children. Fortunately there have not been any major accidents to report; however, we would like to take a proactive approach to ensure the safety of families, staff, and most importantly the students.

Our School Board and Safety Committee are already taking steps to have the stretch of Springwater Road deemed a School Zone and marked 20 mph.  It is going to take time and persistence to make this change happen, if it happens at all.  Clackamas County has stated that our school cannot have a 20 mile per hour sign posted because not enough of our students walk to school, causing the need for the traffic to slow down.   The School Zone is currently under review and will require County staff to visit the site and observe the children that do walk to school.  They will contact us once this process is completed.   However, we feel that there are enough children in route to and from school, either in vehicles or on the school bus, during the peak hours to warrant a speed limit change.  Both the Committee and the School Board will keep us updated on this issue.

The general parent/family population can take a stand in making this stretch of Springwater a safer place to travel.  The County suggested that we register a complaint with the Clackamas County Sherriff's Department.  The higher the volume of complaints received, the greater the chances of having a traffic officer patrol our area.  In short, we have to register a complaint EVERY time it happens. Families can do so three ways: E-mail Cara Seifert at  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  with your name, time, date, contact number, and a brief description of the incident; register your complaint in the Traffic Complaint Log located in Katy's office (your complaint will be forwarded to the Sherriff's Department); or go to www.clackamas.us/sherriff, click on Traffic Complaint on the left hand menu and register your complaint there. 

Our Community has the right to arrive to and from school safe and sound.   By working together we can make the necessary changes take place.  For more information you can contact Safety Committee members Elizabeth Mathis or Margaret Evers.  See below for the letter sent to the Clackamas County Commissioners concerning this issue:

Dear Clackamas County Commissioners:

We are a group of very concerned Oregon City citizens. Ourchildren attend Springwater Environmental Sciences School, located at 16491Springwater Road. Springwater is a public charter school within the Oregon CitySchool District and is now in its fourth year of operation. Our school providesa unique educational experience for our children and families, an experiencebased on science and rooted in community. As a community, we are deeplycommitted to not only educating our children, but to ensuring their safety, aswell. We bring this concern to you, as our County representatives, in hopesthat you can help us address the safety of our children and families.

The lives of our families are put in danger daily, as the speedlimit in front of our school is regularly exceeded by passing cars. Not only docars frequently exceed the speed limit, they often illegally pass other carsdirectly front of our driveway, where parents turn on and off Springwater Road.Keep in mind that these vehicles pulling out of our parking lot are likelycarrying young children! For example, earlier this school year, Cara Seifert, aparent of two Springwater students, witnessed a logging truck passing threepassenger vehicles and a school bus on the left as the school bus turned intoour school parking lot. Another parent reported that a speeding car grazedtheir car bumper as they attempted to pull onto Springwater Road. These kindsof incidents happen frequently, as cars travel in excess of 60 mph past theschool. Parents, teachers, and staff have all witnessed this excessive speed.There is rarely a patrol car in the area, as Springwater Road is in a ruralarea. Due to this rural location, most students are bused or driven to schoolby parents. However, we do have a family who lives nearby and who will walk orbike to school as weather permits. While we may not have many walkers who walkalong or cross busy Springwater Road, numerous families transport theirchildren to and from school on a daily basis. The safety of these familiestraveling in a car is no less important than that of a walker on a sidewalk. Itis the responsibility of our government to provide safe road conditions,whether the traveler is on two feet or riding in a car. Thus, we feel verystrongly the need for a 20 mph zone.

Moreover, the County has recently requested that we remove atemporary driveway for possible safety issues. We complied with the request,even though several other properties along Springwater Road have similardriveways. Merely the potential of an unsafe incident in regards to thistemporary driveway caused the County to invest its time and resources to forceus to remove the driveway, yet the real life accounts of possible fatalaccidents in front of our school seems to cause little concern when reported –repeatedly – to these same County employees.

Our school has grown every year since it began four yearsago. Each time we add students, we pay over $10,000 in TDCs. This money issupposed to address the impact our students have on local roads, however wecannot count on the County to ensure the safety of these same students.Undoubtedly, the County has a responsibility to protect the safety itscitizens. What kind of example are we setting for our children if the basicright of their safety is ignored?

We implore you to investigate this issue further. The safetyof almost 200 students and their families is at stake. The longer thissituation is left unaddressed, the higher the chances of a horrible accidentoccurring. Our hope is that the County will hear our plea and provide a safeenvironment for our children and set an example of government working for thepeople. We anxiously await your response.

Sincerely,

Springwater Board of Directors and Springwater Safety Committee