As the school year starts, parking issues between Walden Lake Elementary School and the Walden Lake community are at the forefront of residents’ minds.
Walden Lake residents held a meeting Thursday, Aug. 27, to discuss traffic problems during school drop-off and pick-up times on Barrett Avenue and Emerson Place.
Heavy traffic causes drivers to park on residents’ lawns. In response, residents have put up “No Parking” signs. However, in the meeting it was discovered that the signs cannot be enforced by law enforcement.
“There is no ordinance that exists for these signs on Barrett Avenue,” Plant City Police Sgt. Al Van Duyne said.
Besides parking, safety is another concern. Kids often run in front of cars, residents said, and it is difficult for emergency vehicles to get down roads that are blocked by cars.
Parents of Walden Lake Elementary students who identify as walkers — students that live within less than two miles of the elementary school — also feel frustrated with the parking issues. Since walkers are not picked up by school buses, many of the parents choose to drive their walkers to Walden Lake Elementary because they do not want their younger children to have to walk up to two miles to get home.
As the school year progresses, Walden Lake Community Association President Bob Hunter hopes that many of the issues can begin to be resolved, if not solved completely.
This summer, the WLCA discovered it owned a portion of property off of Turkey Creek Road, which could potentially be developed into a drop-off zone.
At the Aug. 27 meeting, residents also suggested hang tags to identify Walden Lake vehicles as they approached the school, and there was discussion of working with the City of Plant City to create an ordinance to create enforceable no parking zones.
The traffic issue was first brought to the WLCA’s attention after a resident spoke at a June 15WLCA meeting about traffic problems during school drop-off and pick-up. She said the problem has existed for many years.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com