FORT MITCHELL, Ky. — While a WCPO photographer filmed across the street from the Beechwood school campus, a man in a black Camaro accelerated out of the school's parking lot and sped down the road.
The incident was an example of what multiple parents living along Beechwood Road told us they worried about as kids walk to and from school daily.
Beechwood Independent Schools said around 500 kids cross the street daily.
"I'd say the most negative part about it is there's a lot of traffic and it moves very quickly," Nolan Strall said.
Strall said he walks his daughter to school each school day and would soon be bringing a son to elementary classes.
He'd like to see something done about cars speeding as the roughly dozen bright or flashing signs around the crosswalk haven't seemed to slow traffic.
"Especially after school hours when the kids are out playing it does get a little nerve-racking because they fly down here so fast," he said.
There's been an effort at the district to install a raised crosswalk across Beechwood Road, but a law on the town's books has stymied the efforts.
Fort Mitchell's existing ordinance spans 10 sections of the books, requires a petition to get off the ground, can only continue if it satisfies a series of traffic studies and can only be approved after a mail-in notification and vote of those living along the street.
The town's city manager, Edwin King, said the "red tape" in the law has prevented the city from acting.
"The ordinance has never been used in its history so we're cleaning things up in it and cutting back on the red tape," King said.
At Monday's city council meeting, council members considered a new ordinance that would streamline a member of the public's ability to petition council for a speed hump and give the mayor or council the ability to propose their own traffic calming measures.
The bulk of it is to eliminate some of that red tape. It would also make it easier for the city to remove speed humps that prove burdensome, King said.
If the ordinance passes a second reading of council in August, Fort Mitchell could move forward with speed hump construction on Beechmont Rd. immediately.
The school district sent WCPO a statement about the potential for additional traffic calming on the road:
"We are extremely grateful and encouraged by the opportunity to provide a safer experience for our students and their families. The city of Fort Mitchell has made safety and access a priority for our community members and Beechwood is appreciative to be on the receiving end of this improvement.”
A district official said they hoped to have the hump installed by the end of August.
