MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — Some neighbors on North 60th Street are struggling to get in and out of their homes with the heavy morning and after school traffic from Tennyson Middle School.
Their chool year began August 14, but resident say the traffic started almost a month prior with teachers parking on the side of the road.
- Neighbors on North 60th Street near the newly built Tennyson Middle School are calling this traffic "a nightmare", and parents picking up their kids feel the same
- With cars lined up in the street, neighbors have put up cones and signs to keep people from parking in front of their homes, but one major concern for these homeowners is safety
- Waco ISD’s Chief of Operations and Facilities says they always had a plan to get drivers in and out of the pick up line, but residents offer other solutions, which Waco ISD says they will look into
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"If you have an appointment like I had one last week at 8:30, I missed it because I couldn’t back out of my own driveway," Becky Shook said.
"You have to sit here and wait for 25 minutes just to back out because there’s so many cars — you just can’t leave the driveway," Jeffrey Reed said.
Neighbors on North 60th Street near the newly built Tennyson Middle School are calling this traffic "a nightmare", and parents picking up their kids feel the same.
"I had already got my daughter, and I said just stay here, let me get out of the truck, and I directed traffic, cleared it up and I didn’t get paid for that," Lamanda Prieto said.
With cars lined up in the street, neighbors have put up cones and signs to keep people from parking in front of their homes, but one major concern for these homeowners is safety.
"If there’s an emergency, we have elderly neighbors, an ambulance couldn’t get in here if they tried for an hour and a half everyday," Julie Felderhoff said.
When these neighbors were asked about what they’d like to see changed to improve traffic, they came up with a few suggestions, like adding painted lines to the street, having crossing guards, someone conducting traffic, or staggering the students pick up times.
25 News took these ideas to Gloria Barrera, Waco ISD’s Chief of Operations and Facilities.
"That’s something that we’re working on with out PD, our internal Waco ISD Police Department, to determine of we need to do somethings differently,” Barrerra said.
This new school that holds more than 1,000 students — it previously sat along Tennyson Drive but now sits on Sanger Avenue and 60th Street.
Barrera says that during construction, they always had a traffic plan in mind to get cars in and out.
“The cars are gonna come into this entrance here, drop their student off here, and exit on Sanger avenue,” said Gloria Barrera.
Principal Bradford McMillan says he’s seen the traffic and asks parents to follow the pickup and drop off procedures of waiting in a line.
He also says since school just started, parents and students are adjusting to the route.
"Everyone just be patient with us again, this is the beginning of the school year with this is the second week of school, things will definitely get better," McMillan said.
A teacher and staff parking lot will open up by December, which will help get rid of the cars parked on the street during the day — Waco ISD says the district has plans to work with the city on improving traffic flow.
