Missoula Police Talk Safety For First Day of School [YouTube]

Missoula schools will open for the first day of  classes on Wednesday, and Missoula police will be keeping a close eye on kids and school zones.

Spokesman Travis Welsh said both two-wheel and four-wheel traffic will be heavy near school zones.

"Wednesday will be a big day with Kindergarten through ninth grades starting school, and we want to welcome them back," Welsh said. "With that in mind, we'll be seeing a lot of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Kids will be walking and biking through neighborhoods, using the crosswalks and potentially in areas of risk. We'd like drivers to be vigilant and watch for those kids as they head to and from school."

Welsh said extra patrols will be near the schools this week.

"There will be police patrols in those areas to make sure that  kids are safe," he said.