File photo BY KEN BLEVINS / WILMINGTON STAR NEWS
Q. I was shocked to see New Hanover County School buses stopping on Market Street to pick up and drop off students. Market Street is one of our most dangerous roads. I would like to know how many “bus stops” there are on Market Street and whether or not this unsafe practice will be ended.
Mick Wayne, director of transportation for New Hanover County Schools, knows that Market Street – along with Carolina Beach Road, College Road and Oleander Drive – is one of the county’s busiest thoroughfares.
But Market Street is also one of the transportation department’s main routes and has been for at least 40 years, Wayne said.
“We stop on these major thoroughfares,” he said. “Otherwise, we’d never get students to school on time. It’d be physically impossible.”
The county drops off and picks up about 12,500 students at about 5,000 stops daily. There are almost 1,000 stops on those main thoroughfares, Wayne said.
While students are let off the bus on the busy roads, Wayne said the stops are positioned so students don’t have to cross the street to get to or from their house.
And a big part of keeping students safe falls on the drivers, Wayne said.
“We understand it’s very dangerous,” he said. “But as with anyplace else in the county, drivers have to be responsible for how they stop their vehicles.”
RELATED LINKS:
Can anything be done to ease traffic backups on 41st Street near Hoggard High School?
How can we get traffic control devices installed in front of Bellamy Elementary School?
Date posted: November 20, 2012
User-contributed question by:
Carol Kramer
Talk to us!
Have a comment about this post or know more about the answer? Use this form to let us know. Note that all comments are moderated and must be approved before they are posted, although you may see your own comments the first time you post them.