Concerns expressed about Brunswick County Schools temporary bus stop on NC Hwy 87

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Two days into the school year, a Brunswick County community says it is dealing with a problem with one of the county’s bus routes.

The buses are unable to travel down a portion of NC Hwy 87 or Maco Road, to pick up and drop off kids, because of construction. The students are being dropped off at the corner of Hwy 87 and Colon Mintz Road.

According to a Brunswick County Schools spokesperson, the district had an agreement with a nearby church for buses to use its parking lot to pick up and drop off students, but it appears that agreement is no longer in place.

People living in the area say heavy traffic, combined with students waiting to get onto or off of a bus is creating a dangerous situation.

“Between 3:15pm and 4 o’clock in the afternoon this place is a madhouse, and it’s very dangerous for the kids and for everybody. Evidently this is where the school buses are dropping off all the children who live down Highway 87 past Colon Mintz Road. There is nowhere for the parents to park, except on the side of the road, and there is nowhere for the kids to go except for into the road to go get in their parent’s car,” said Jack Vanlandingham, concerned resident.

Brunswick County Schools says it is working to have an alternate bus pick-up and drop-off location for students on that route, and plans to have it in place no later than tomorrow.

Work on that portion of NC Hwy 87 is expected to be complete sometime in September.