Brandon Twp – For about 20 minutes each workday morning, M-15 near Brandon Middle School transforms into a parking lot.
The congestion, says local law enforcement, is caused by motorists dropping off students, clogging the middle school entrance, which is not designed to handle the excessive traffic.
‘The ingress and egress to the school is not designed for all those cars,? said Deputy Larry Roberts of the Oakland County Sheriff Brandon substation. ‘The northbound lane of M-15 is jammed with cars, which have only one parent and one or two kids, waiting to turn into the driveway of the school.
‘The southbound middle turn-lane is stopped and jammed with cars waiting to turn eastbound into the drive, which is prohibiting traffic movement on M-15,? Roberts said. ‘You just can’t stop traffic on a Michigan highway like that.?
Because the school drop-offs are causing increased traffic jams, Roberts questions why students are not taking advantage of the school district transportation provided. He does concede, however, that kids may be taking the ‘hitchhike short cut? rather than waiting through lengthy bus routes.
Roberts is concerned that district busses are not fully utilized.
However, according to Brandon School District Transportation Supervisor Betty Martin, the district’s busses are running near 70-percent capacity.
‘If kids are riding with their parents it could be because it’s the same time parents go to work,? said Martin. She suggests excessive drop-offs could also be due to the recent cold temperatures, or kids preferring to avoid the lengthy unloading time of some of the district routes.
Whatever the cause, Oakland County Sheriff Sergeant Tim McIsaac says congestion caused by the drop-offs and pick-ups at both the middle school and Harvey Fletcher Intermediate is being tossed into the lap of the school district.
‘The district has grown and we have a lot of parents picking up their kids, and this situation is thrown on the schools? lap.?
Dr. William Snyder of the Middle School was unavailable for comment at press time.