There were plenty of them — that’s part of being a mother. But one loomed largest: The pedestrian crossing at Timpanogos Highway and Center Street. Hundreds of students cross the busy highway every weekday, to and from Viewpoint Middle and Skyridge High schools. And it felt like an accident was waiting to happen.

Sure enough, a few weeks later a student was struck while crossing the intersection.

The student survived with a fractured wrist. Thank goodness for that. And now community demand for a solution has intensified, prompting a petition to build a pedestrian bridge.

It can’t come soon enough.

My husband and I bought our first home in Lehi last year, drawn by its proximity to our kids’ schools. Every morning, kids and their guardians descend the hill on foot, alongside strollers, bikes, scooters and even golf carts.

These roads get busier by the day. I’ve watched excavators working like ants from my window as new commercial developments take shape. It was clear from my vantage that a pedestrian bridge was overdue, and many residents in this community agreed. But these sorts of infrastructural improvements, meant to keep the community safe, haven’t kept pace with the urban growth.

Even on slower roads, the dangers are clear. Alpine School District’s only crossing guard at Belmont Elementary and Viewpoint Middle School, Christina Hollingsworth, told me she has had several near misses with distracted drivers.

“Sometimes it’s pretty surprising how many people aren’t paying attention,” she said.

Responsibility for addressing known risks spans city, school district and state jurisdictions. And those entities often work at cross purposes, each assuming the other should make the first move and cut the first check.

Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Wyatt Woolley told me that his agency is working with Lehi to explore safety improvements along its routes. But, he said, “the city and school district need to take the lead on local pedestrian infrastructure.”

While we wait, the danger mounts.

“My experience has been that typically cities wait for a crisis before they act instead of being forward-thinking,” said Roger Dudley, a civil engineer with more than 55 years of experience, including work with Utah County municipalities.

He pulled up an aerial view of the intersection on his computer screen. Existing aqueducts could complicate future structural work, he told me, but he agreed that an overpass or underpass would separate pedestrians from highway traffic. That solution, though, could take several years.

That worries me. My kids will be crossing this road in a few years. And many other parents’ children already are.

This intersection has experienced construction delays before. The intersection at North Center Street and Timpanogos Highway was scheduled to open to traffic in August 2024, but the project faced a year of delays due to disagreements among Lehi City, UDOT and developers, as well as permit delays. The preexisting aqueducts Dudley pointed out also complicated construction.

I understand the challenges. I accept that Lehi, Alpine School District and UDOT have different responsibilities, budgets and jurisdictions. But kids who walk or bike to school across Timpanogos Highway don’t care about that.

They just need a safe way to get to school.

Holly Asay is a resident of Lehi.