DUBUQUE - In September, 2007, a car struck and killed 15-year-old Lauren Schmidt as she was crossing the street in front of the Hempstead High School. Since then, the city's added a stop light, cut traffic to two lanes, and lowered the speed limit on Pennsylvania Avenue. But traffic congestion in front of Hempstead High School continues to cause concern for drivers in Dubuque.

On a lazy summer afternoon cars quickly buzz past Hempstead High School. But during the school year... add in a couple hundred students and a half dozens school buses, and the situation is a lot more dangerous.

Dr. Kris Hall with Dubuque Schools says, "It's one of the busiest streets we have in the Dubuque community, it's almost like an east-west arterial." About 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles travel the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue each day.

After thousands of dollars in safety upgrades, the focus is now on a single lane of traffic. Civil Engineer Dave Ness tells TV9, "Right now it's kind of a combination lane, if there are people waiting to turn right they are also blocking the through traffic."

The city will create a right turning lane, to help the traffic moving as students turn right into the school's parking lot. Funding for all these changes comes from a grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation.

High School staff encourage students to use the new crosswalk and obey the new rules. The city says the rest is up to the students.

The city expects to complete that new turn lane by the time students return to classes in the fall.