SOUTHMONT, N.C. (WGHP) — A small community is concerned for the safety of students at Southmont Elementary School in Southmont
And it all had to do with traffic since the school stands right close to Highway 8.
It has an entrance for parents to drop kids off on Owens Road and for buses on Linwood Southmont Road, but there are no school zone signs indicating there’s a school there.
“There’s nothing there to at least tell them that the schools over there to slow down or something,” said Audra O’Neill, who lives near the school.
It takes several curvy roads, a speed limit of 35 and a school sign to know you are driving near Southmont Elementary School.
But there are no school zone signs near the school.
“That makes me feel like we’re not being aware of the kids, that we’re not taking the time to stop and slow down for their safety,” said Rachel Ivory, who lives across from one of the school entrances.
Ivory sees parents drop off their kids every morning, and it’s a busy place with a steady flow of parents dropping off their kids.
She worries people are driving too fast on Owen Road.
“I feel slighted that the school got slighted. It worries me tremendously, mostly for the safety of the children across the street … I watch them every day,” Ivory said.
Audra O’Neill lives on Highway 8 within walking distance from the school. She says the highway has a lot of traffic.
“It’s really congested, and people don’t slow down going through here … in the mornings and afternoons when people are trying to get out of the Owens Road,” Audra O’Neill said.
Scott O’Neill picks up his granddaughter from this school.
He lives about a few minutes away from the school. He is always on alert when driving through these roads.
“There’s been a couple of wrecks there in the past … It’s 35 miles per hour zone. People running 45, 55, and they don’t care,” Scott O’Neill said.
The school was built in 2009. No school signs on Owen Road or Linwood-Southmont Road have been put in place where the school has entrances for parents to drop off their kids and for buses to drop off kids.
“It needs to be a big sign just like everybody else has with their crosswalks and everything on their sign, and it needs to be posted a speed limit that’s adequate,” Ivory said.
FOX8 reached out to the North Carolina Department of Transportation multiple times through phone and email about why the school does not have a school zone sign.
The team responded back saying they are looking into it.
