From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 17, 1986:

A small but vocal group of parents had protested on a recent morning near Riverside School. Members of the school’s parent-teacher association had long been concerned about the dangers of students crossing North Iowa street at the same time that hundreds of workers were driving to nearly industrial sites. However, their concerns had sharpened recently. The flashing lights intended to slow traffic to 20 mph had been struck by lightning in July and had not yet been repaired. A city engineer explained that the city was having trouble ordering a part necessary to fix the lights.