The City of Reno is looking at ways to improve street safety around schools, especially in some of its older neighborhoods where infrastructure may be outdated. Councilman Oscar Delgado says that is why new school zone signs are now visible on Barstow Street near Traner Middle School. He says that area sees a lot of traffic issues.

"Speeding, I know we see speeding," Delgado said. "We're seeing it as our community grows. A lot of people are trying to get from Point A to Point B as quick as they can."

Barstow Street was not a designated school zone until now. The signs now show a 15 mile per hour speed limit. Students say it will make their school safer.

"Everybody would just speed through here like it was nothing and kids would run around the street and I feel like now that there's a sign, people take their time and kids are more aware of their surroundings now," Alexa Lara, seventh grader at Traner Middle School said.

"It helps my friends cross the street, since they live over there," Ashley Segoviano, seventh grader at Traner Middle School said. "It's safer for them instead of just running across the street."

The signs are just one improvement coming to the North Reno neighborhood. The City plans on installing flashing lights in the next few months. In the spring, it plans on adding sidewalks along nearby streets that do not have any.

"If you look over on Tenth Street, you'll find that there's sidewalks that aren't necessarily there," Delgado said. "There's still dirt and that's why you see kids running across the street because the infrastructure isn't there."

Jeanne Saucedo says the improvements are needed. In August, her son, Zayl, and her niece, Nataliya, got hit by a car on their way to school.

"My son and niece were doing the right thing, using the crosswalk," Saucedo said. "Unfortunately, somebody wasn't paying attention."

Zayl made a full recovery but Nataliya has a long way to go. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and had a stroke because of the crash. She is now back in Reno after spending months at a rehabilitation facility in Utah.

"Still unable to talk, unable to walk," Saucedo said. "She is gaining some of that back, slowly, but we are working to get her going again. She's a trooper and she is fighting. She is fighting. She's really doing it so we're really, really proud of her."

Saucedo says it is important for the community to be a part of the solution, to help prevent future pedestrian crashes. She and Delgado are encouraging people to attend a ward Town Hall Meeting at 5:30 p.m. on December 10th at Traner Middle School. They say there are many older areas that need infrastructure upgrades for safety reasons.

"We need to make sure we're talking to the schools directly as that's where our kids should feel the safest," Delgado said. "Especially, when they're going to school and leaving school."

He says the improvements also need the cooperation from drivers and pedestrians who may be speeding or driving distracted.

"There's a police officer that said it pretty clear to me," Delgado said. "He said 'You know, crosswalks are just painted on the street.' They're not going to protect you so we want to make sure people are involved in understanding what that means."

He says education, engineering and enforcement are all keys to making the tools work. Saucedo says improving safety is a combination of infrastructure and people making the effort.

"These kids are everything," Saucedo said. "We want these kids to be the next 'us' and a better 'us'. So we have to lead by example as parents."