Village want to ease school traffic woes

Carpentersville officials plan to crack down on parking along Miller Road outside of Liberty Elementary School, and may ban parking west of the new waiting lane.

The ban would add to the steps the village and Community School District 300 have taken to ease the traffic congestion that often forces parents to double-park or drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid illegally parked cars.

"Parents keep screaming there is a safety issue out there," said Trustee Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, who introduced the proposal. "We are spending $66,000 to put a stacking lane so they can park. Now they need to abide by the laws."

In December, the village board prohibited parking on the south side of Miller Road from Huntley Road to Providence Drive. In addition, the village board restricted left turns from eastbound Miller Road into the school's western driveway from 2 to 2:45 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Bad weather has prevented work from starting on the temporary waiting lane -- a lane off the main road where parents can wait for their children. Waiting lanes, or stacking lanes, are often used at airports and taxi stands.

Chuck Bumbales, the district's superintendent of operations, said workers are confident the lane will be completed before the first day of school, Sept. 6.

While the school district supports the village's commitment to making the area safer for parents and students, Bumbales said the district will ask for some provisions.

Bumbales said the district will request considerations to the ban on special event days such as open houses or during parent and teacher conferences, when there is often overflow from the school's parking lot.

However, Ramirez-Sliwinski said she would not support the provisions.

"The parents are the ones screaming that we need to everything we can for the children," Ramirez-Sliwinski said. "They can't ask for the village to give and give and give and not give anything in return."