On the morning of Thursday, September 24, 2026, a 13-year-old boy on his way to Will James Middle School was struck by a vehicle near the crosswalk at Grand Avenue and Rehberg Lane in Billings, Montana.

Every school day, students walking and biking to and from Will James Middle School are directed to cross at the traffic light at Grand Avenue and Rehberg Lane, and from there into the residential neighborhood. It is the route they're told to take, and they take it at street level, in front of traffic.

A light only protects a child when every driver obeys it. Kids crossing at Grand and Rehberg are counting on every car to stop on red, every turning driver to see them, and nobody to run the light. When one driver doesn't, a child pays for it.

A pedestrian bridge at this crosswalk would remove that danger completely. Students could cross above the traffic instead of in it.

We are asking the Billings City Council, Billings Public Schools, and the Montana Department of Transportation to:

1. Build a pedestrian bridge at the crosswalk at Grand Avenue and Rehberg Lane, where Will James Middle School students already cross. Many kids bike to school, so the bridge should be wide enough for students to walk their bikes across. Bikes should be walked across the bridge, not ridden.

2. Paint the bridge red, the favorite color of the boy who was struck there, so every student who crosses it remembers why it was built.

Until the bridge is built, we ask for two temporary measures starting now:

3. Ban right turns on red at this intersection, both turning off Rehberg Lane and turning onto Rehberg Lane, so drivers aren't turning into the crosswalk while students are in it.

4. Station a crossing guard or traffic officer at the Grand Avenue and Rehberg Lane crosswalk for a few hours each morning and afternoon when students are arriving and leaving school.

Students cross here every day. Please sign and share so every child gets to school and home safely.