Cleveland neighborhood asking for an end to ‘chaotic’ school drop-off

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The hustle and bustle of a school morning ramp up for those living along West 140th Street. The neighbors say the street has turned into a free-for-all and are fed up with the constant traffic issues.

“It’s just, it’s been people being stupid,” said Curt. “It gets not only double parked but triple parked, with only a center strip for people to get through.”

The long-time neighbor to the school, Artemus Ward, says the past couple of years, the driving has gotten atrocious.

He says parents will double and triple park on the two-lane thoroughfare, with other cars zipping around them and sometimes using yards to maneuver around the traffic. Still block in people up and down the street, leaving cars in front of or in driveways as they walk their child into the building.

“Oh it’s crazy, I’ve seen some really bad thing go on here with traffic,” said Curt.

Curt says he and his neighbors are fed up and just want a better system to prevent accidents and property damage. But he doesn’t blame the district or the school, saying the parents need to do better.

Unfortunately, he adds that calls to the city have not yielded any results.

So he called 19 News.

We waited to talk with some parents during pick-up, who agreed the street was a challenge to maneuver during drop-off from nine to 9:30 each morning, noting how fast some cars go around parked parents.

“And when they’re parked on both sides, and they try to come through the middle, it just makes it a whole lot worse,” said Brandy, a parent picking up her child Wednesday.

She also noted cars driving through yards to get around traffic and said a better system is needed.

So, 19 News reached out to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and is awaiting a response. The elementary school principal was also contacted. He couldn’t talk Wednesday but indicated he would be willing to sit down in the future.

19 News also reached out to Brian Kazy, the councilman for the area, who says he is aware of the complaints and says the city plans to address the drop-off issues in the summer, with a new system created for next year.

In the meantime, 19 News also contacted the Cleveland Police Department, who made it a “special interest area” for the rest of the school year, posting a squad car by the school during drop-off to deter some of the wild driving.

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