SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Sumner County commissioner has called on area schools and drivers to work together and help alleviate what he called a dangerous traffic pattern.
The confusion involves a turn lane near Liberty Creek Elementary School where residents claim they’ve waited for up to 30 minutes along Wolfpack Way during pickup times.
“Coming off Latimer Lane — or Long Hollow Pike to Latimer down here — if you’re at the top, you may sit there [for] 30 minutes trying to get home,” Mike McClard, who uses Hunters Lane to get home, told News 2. “The only option you have is get over in the incoming traffic lane and come down the hill and make the left turn.”
McClard said he and his wife counted 22 cars blocking the turn for Hunters Lane in just one afternoon. The issue has gained the attention of Commissioner Tim Jones, who called on drivers and the school district to work together.
“It’s not just school traffic — it’s that they’re staging in a turn lane that is not for them,” Jones said. “Bring them into the parking lot. Put a lane beside the school. Pave a section of land out there for parents, but leaving them on a road that goes into a neighborhood is not acceptable.”
Jones said he’d like to see the school district widen pickup lanes, consider utilizing law enforcement or install flexible poles to ensure drivers stay in the correct lane.
“I think between all three schools that are on that road, they’re at about half capacity of what they will be, so the problem’s only going to get worse,” Jones added. “And the citizens know this.”
Jones and McClard said they’ve been told that the district will look into the problem after Jan. 1, but they’d both like to see it addressed sooner rather than later.
“I realize people are going to say, ‘Look, it’s only 20 to 30 minutes a day,’” McClard said. “Well, that’s well and good if you’re not the one for the 20 and 30 minutes wasting your time.”
News 2 reached out to Sumner County Schools for comment. As of publication, there has been no response.
