New sign helps mitigate Norfolk school traffic
Dec 03, 2024
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The city of Norfolk has put up a sign to address a problem with traffic flow through the Lafayette Shores neighborhood that has been congested with parents picking up their kids from the Academy for Discovery at Lakewood school on Alsace Avenue.
But will it work?
School pickup problems pit parents against neighbors in Norfolk
The Lafayette Shores neighborhood has seen congestion as some parents blocked streets and driveways while waiting to pick up their kids.
The city of Norfolk put up a sign that prohibits right turns from Boyce Drive onto Elmore Place between 2:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.
It didn't’ take long to catch the first driver Adrian Green turning right.
“I did not notice that sign," Green said. "I learned coming this way from another parent."
When 10 On Your Side was out here last week, there were numerous cars turning right after coming through the neighborhood, cutting in line to pick up students at the school.
"I totally understand," Green said. "I just did not see the sign. I'm going to make sure not to do that again. I get it. I can see how it causes congestion."
Jodi Dobrinsky, who lives in the neighborhood and has confronted drivers who block driveways and intersections, said via Facetime that the new sign is a good step.
"Yes, it is a 100% step in the right direction," she said. "A lot more can be done, but I think it is a step in the right direction."
10 on Your Side went to Norfolk Public Schools Director of Safety and Security David Hughes, who broke the news with us that the sign was going up,
“So then, no right turn during those hours is going to do away with the ability for cars to get into the front of the line," Hughes said.
One person in the neighborhood who did not identify herself said she opposes the no right turn sign, saying public roads are public roads.
“We all pay taxes to drive, and we all pay taxes, and we all pay taxes for maintenance, and it is not one person's street," she said.
Hughes admits that parents who designate children as walkers will likely continue picking up children on back neighborhood streets.
“A child is identified as someone who walks to school and yet you have a parent that will wait in the neighborhood, so that they are doing that? I really don't have a lot of control over that, because this is a child that would walk to school," Hughes said.
Dobrinsky said her campaign of awareness, although not supported by some of her neighbors, will continue.
“I think 10 on Your Side has helped me get the story out and make people aware of what is happening," she said. "Thank you 10 On Your Side for expediting any type of issues that they were going to fix. You sped it up."
At day’s end, 10 On Your Side found just one driver taking the right-hand turn, and it’s expected the city will, in the next week, change the timing on the stoplight at Tidewater Drive and Alsace Avenue to get more cars off of Tidewater and onto Alsace Avenue, and vice versa.