by washcycle
When a new bike/ped sidepath was added along Travilah Road, some neighborhoods lost school bus service.
Montgomery County public school officials have told parents that their
children no longer will receive bus service because a new bike path
leading to the school provides an adequate walking route.Because of the completion of a bike path along Travilah Road, the school
system is suspending bus service to students who live within a mile of
the school, leaving parents to wonder why the bus cannot make a last
stop for the safety of their children.Residents who live along Natia Manor Drive, which creates a horse
shoe-shaped loop off Travilah Road, say the path is too far and too
dangerous for children to walk alone. They cite the 2004 hit-and-run
death of Solomon King,
a Thomas S. Wootton High School junior, who was struck at Travilah Road
and Noland Drive, about one mile east of the neighborhood and roughly
two miles from the school. No other fatal pedestrian collisions have
occurred along that stretch of Travilah Road, said Capt. Paul Starks, a
Montgomery police spokesman, but five vehicle collisions have occurred
there from 2004 to 2008.The 8-foot-wide, shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists was
completed in June of last year, said Bruce Johnston, a division chief
with the county Department of Transportation. The path, which runs
between Darnestown and Dufief Mill roads, cost $11 million and was built
in response to complaints that Travilah Road was narrow and had no
shoulder, he said.Residents said they are concerned that the path is on the same level as
the busy street, with no barrier for children who might wander or
vehicles that might swerve. Lewis said he has seen motorists drive on
the path.The school will add patrols to monitor children as they walk to school
While a mile seems like a long walk for a five year old (am I wrong parents?) I doubt this is unsafe, and I think it’s a good idea.
https://www.thewashcycle.com/2010/07/sidepath-means-no-more-school-bus.htmloldId.2010080109025769
I think it’s great. I grew up in a town in New Jersey that had 2 schools and everyone walked or rode a bike. There were no school buses until you went ot high school. K to 8th you were walking or riding and you could go home for lunch. That meant for me that I was doing roughly 4 miles a day. There were crossings guards at the main roads ( 6) and there were designated roads that the kids were supposed to use that served as the "main drag" for kids headed to school.
That was 30 years ago and it is still that way today.