Parents and Officials Swap Ideas for a Student Drop-off Ordinance on Radcliffe Road

Parents went 'round and 'round Wednesday night during a forum at Tinley's , where they weighed in on a drop-off ordinance that would limit their access to a neighborhood street.

. Violators could be hit with a $750 fine, according to village documents.

But Wednesday’s discussion may lead officials to tweak that ordinance to allow drop-offs on the south side of the street only, said Trustee Brian Maher, chair of the Public Safety Committee.

“This is an option that makes a little more sense and doesn’t bring additional traffic to Cloverview (Drive) or wherever else,” he said during the forum. “The biggest concern we have is drop-offs on the north side of the street, forcing kids to cross.”

Those children often cross unsafely, said, darting between parked cars amidst some drivers who opt to cruise down a makeshift center lane.

Parents regularly meet their kids in that area because it’s where a sidewalk between two single-family homes leads to the school—a sidewalk Valois called a “flame attracting moths.”

He joined Maher, Kirby Schools Superintendent Michael Byrne, Millennium Principal Mary Jo Werbiansky and Cmndr. Steve Vaccaro in hosting Wednesday’s forum. They started the talk by handing out enlarged aerial photographs of the streets and landscape around the school.

“All of us are here for the same reason,” Byrne said. “We may be on different sides of the solution, but we’re here to keep our kids safe.”

Werbiansky invited parents at the meeting to sign up for a “back door” drop-off or pick-up for their kids. About 30 cars typically cycle through that area before and after school, she said, and adding 10 to 15 more to the approved list could alleviate congestion on other nearby thoroughfares.

Mother Beth McKernan supported that. She was also the one to suggest limiting traffic to the south side of Radcliffe only.

“We have to be logical and rational,” she said, adding that she has a fifth grade and a first grade student at the school. “Nobody has to win or lose. This should be a compromise.”

Members of the village board's Public Safety Committee first discussed a potential ordinance earlier this month, just before the full board conducted its first reading. After parents met it with skepticism, a second Aug. 16 reading was tabled so officials could come up with a more agreeable solution, they said.

“This has been an ongoing problem at the school,” Maher said in an e-mail to McKernan. “This is not merely a reaction to a complaining neighbor or two but a response to a continued pattern of dangerous behavior by numerous parents.”

The ordinance came from a traffic study and the statewide Safe Routes to School initiative. The project was paid for using the Model Communities Grant, said Village Planning Director Amy Connolly.

A crossing guard was added at Radcliffe and Durkin roads in the spring, but that didn’t solve all issues. Many parents have expressed worry that stopping drop-offs on the street entirely would only push the problem farther from the school, where 600 kids attend class.

No matter what happens with the ordinance, Valois stressed that the answer is really just decreasing the number of cars.

“Please encourage your fellow parents to carpool,” he said. “If we can knock the cars down from 500 to 400 or even 300, we can minimize the chances of a tragedy. We want you to be our voices.”