AMBERLEY VILLAGE, Ohio — Parents are concerned about a Metro bus stop change for their kids. They say the new stop at the busy intersection of Galbraith Road and Arborcrest Drive is too dangerous for students.
“It’s an accident in the making,” said Ami Kothari, mother of two kids at Walnut Hills High School.
Parents said they’re scrambling to carpool because they don’t want their kids to cross three lanes of traffic near Ronald Reagan Highway.
“Oh, it’s absolutely horrible,” Kothari said. “We’ve got lots of cars coming from these two lanes going that way and one lane going that way.”
There’s no traffic light at the new stop, no painted crosswalk and no sidewalk. The stop is across the road from where it was last year.
"It used to be over here where this telephone pole is so the kids would get off and it would go straight to the subdivision," Kothari said.
Several other Walnut Hills students also get dropped off there after school. Gayle Warm, who sends two kids to Walnut, read an email she said she sent to Metro, Cincinnati Public Schools and Walnut in August.
“This is incredibly unsafe," Warm read. "To get off at Galbraith earlier and cross without a sidewalk is equally unsafe."
“I asked, 'Can they please change the bus stop back?' ”
The school responded, saying it was working on fixing the issue.
But Kothari didn't stop there.
"I think this is extremely dangerous to the point where I even went to the police to say, 'Hey, is this a good place for 13-year-olds to be dropped off?' " she said.
Amberley Police Lt. Brian Blum said there have not been any pedestrian accidents at the bus stop intersections of Galbraith and Arborcrest or Ridge and Burning Tree.
"I don't think it's a dangerous road as far as everyday traffic goes," Blum said. "I think the concern with parents in that neighborhood is
that children are being dropped off on the opposite side of a three-lane road from their neighborhood and children have to cross the road."
Blum said he also reached out to Metro and Metro said CPS is in charge of creating the routes.
A CPS spokesperson clarified that Metro creates the routes and Metro has been reducing the number of bus stops, which could have an impact on where student access those stops.
“Even if our kids are on the bus for a longer period of time, as long as they don't have to cross three lanes of traffic, I think we'd be happy,” Warm said.
Metro declined an interview with WCPO but a spokesperson said they are working closely with CPS to "remedy" the issue. The Metro spokesperson said they would soon contact the parents of the students involved.
The parents told WCPO that Metro has not contacted them yet.
We will keep you updated on this matter as it unfolds.
