If the print dialog box does not automatically appear, open the file menu and choose Print.
Article published August 11, 2010
New school bus plan set Cars barred from back of building
EVANS CITY — Borough council members and police Chief Joe McCombs recently met with officials from the Evans City Elementary and Middle School to discuss traffic congestion around the school. The main area of contention is that school buses and parents often take similar routes off Main Street around the school, McCombs said, which creates a "free-for-all" scenario where cars often dart around buses and weave in and out of traffic. The situation prompted a new plan to be devised, McCombs said, because the old scenario created a hazard for children. "We want to better improve the entire flow of school traffic in the mornings," he said. "The bus traffic and parents used to conflict in the rear of the building. It was a situation where the parents would go wherever they wanted and dart in between buses and drop their kids off in the bus route." McCombs said the new solution is to separate the buses from the parents. The buses will continue to operate on their normal route, which brings them off Main Street, up Stokey Alley and behind the school. The buses will continue around the school and drop students off in front of the school. Parents, however, will be forbidden from driving their children behind the school and will rather be forced to drop them off in the front of the school. While the buses and parents will still meet in front of the school, McCombs said the on-duty police officer directing traffic will be able to sort out the situation and create an orderly process for the morning traffic. "We're going to keep the parents away from the bus traffic until they meet right in front of the school, where we can direct them accordingly," McCombs said. Council vice president Paul Foster said he hopes the school puts up signs around the school to let parents know of the new route. The school will also reach out to parents before school starts and either mail or hand out informational material explaining the new traffic pattern. Foster also said the school won't allow any students to come into the back of the building, which was previously allowed when parents had the option to drive around the buses. That new rule, he said, will further promote the idea that parents must drop their kids off in the front of the building. Foster said he hopes the new traffic pattern will alleviate congestion around the school but added it might only be a temporary solution if the problem isn't fixed. "I don't know how temporary this is going to be," he said. "If we find in the future there's a better solution, we will try it."
