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Tampa crosswalk art near elementary school hopes to catch drivers' attention

This helps reinforce that streets are not just for cars, but for students to walk to get to school as well.

TAMPA, Fla — If you're driving down MacDill Avenue near MacFarlane Park Elementary School, then it might look a little brighter after Sunday.

The City of Tampa launched its 10th Crosswalks to Classrooms project on Sunday at MacFarlane Park Elementary School in West Tampa. 

The crosswalk mural is sponsored by the local non-profit organization Walk Bike Tampa. Emily Hinsdale with the organization said they hope to make the crosswalk more visible.

"This is a good project to help raise awareness about how we all need to support each other being safe on Tampa's roads," Hinsdale said.

The area where students walk from McFarlane Park across four lanes on MacDill carries heavy traffic. Maria Castillo with the MacFarlane Neighborhood Association said the busy street brings "tons of traffic and unfortunately, a lot of speeding."

She continued, "We wanted something to actually catch the attention and maybe slow down drivers a bit."

Families can expect to see the crosswalk painted with brightly colored book spines featuring titles of books selected by MacFarlane Park Elementary School students.

There will be an official ribbon-cutting for the newly decorated crosswalks at 8 a.m. on Oct. 6 at the school.

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