JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Some Jacksonville parents worry it will be too dangerous for their kids to get to their new bus stop this year.
Cody Zastrocky is one of them. He has three kids split between Kernan Trail Elementary School and Kernan Middle School. His family lives off the eastbound side of Beach Boulevard, in the Sans Pareil neighborhood, but just learned his kids will have to cross the six-lane road to get to their school bus this year.
“These kids can’t cross six lanes, especially kindergarteners and first graders,” Zastrocky said.
Zastrocky tells Action News Jax the bus stop has been at a strip mall at the entrance to his neighborhood for years. After seeing this year’s school bus routes for his kids, he realized the stop had been moved to the Monterey condo complex on the other side of the road.
Zastrocky’s house is about a half-mile walk from the nearest crosswalk and he worries it’ll be too risky to let his kids make the mile-long walk to their new bus stop.
“I don’t know who at the school district would look at that and think that it was safe for kids to cross six lanes with no crosswalks, no stoplights, but it seems like that’s what happened,” said Zastrocky.
The Florida Department of Transportation estimates an average of 52,000 cars drive along Beach Boulevard any day. Since the six-lane road is separated by a median, Florida law says drivers heading down the other side of the road from the school bus won’t have to stop for it.
Zastrocky worries it’ll be too much traffic and too much danger to let his kids take the bus this year.
“Time and time again, it happens every year. We have accidents with kids that are completely avoidable,” Zastrocky said, “there needs to be some attention paid to it.”
We’ve reached out to Duval County Public Schools asking if another bus stop will be added to Beach Boulevard to address the safety concerns. We’ve also asked the Florida Highway Patrol for all the crash reports along Beach Boulevard, involving kids, over the last year, and are still waiting for responses for both requests.
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