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Bus Stop Safety Prevails

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 14, 2008

CITRUS PARK - Parents in the Woodmont community off Gunn Highway successfully protested a planned bus stop and got the school district to change it.

The Hillsborough County school district is eliminating stops and adjusting bus routes to make its transportation system more efficient.

But some of the proposals have parents worried for their children's safety.

In Woodmont, families were concerned about students waiting at the corner of Gunn Highway and Cain Road. The walk from the Woodmont houses down Cain is narrow with drainage ditches on both sides and no sidewalks.

The traffic and speed on Gunn also bothered them.

John Franklin, general director of transportation, met with about a dozen parents in the neighborhood last week on the final day of school to see the route.

Afterward, he recommended moving the stop from Gunn farther in on Cain Road.

Franklin told parents in an e-mail that a safety review showed Cain Road did not have a four-foot walking path as required because of the culverts.

The community instead will have two stops that do not require walking down Cain.

One stop will be at Cain Road and Piney Lane Drive. A second will be at Piney Lane and Pine Bay Drive. It is a reduction from the four elementary school stops that the neighborhood had last year.

Barbara Boler, the parent who brought the Gunn Highway issue to Franklin's attention, said she and others were grateful for the attention and consideration the transportation office gave their concerns.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503 or cpastor@tampatrib.com.

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