Village Neighbors Still Riled Over Pioneer Charter Traffic

Neighbors in the Village are still experiencing problems with traffic at the new and expanded Pioneer Charter School, and Councilor Michael McLaughlin said he plans to put an item on the Council agenda Nov. 13 to bring the building owner before them.

Pioneer opened half of their building last school year at their new location in the Village. In September, they opened the full school, resulting in a great deal of congestion and poor traffic management. Neighbors described a very chaotic scene and demanded that something change.

McLaughlin said so far nothing has changed to satisfy him.

“I am disappointed by the lack of communication and effectiveness of the Pioneer Charter School with the parents during drop off and pick up each day,” he said. “Parents still feel they have the right to do what they see fit and not what is law. I have now gone to the point of placing a piece on the calendar for Tuesday night to ask for the property owners to come up to the next public safety sub-committee meeting to discuss this matter. I can clearly see the school administrators do not have the ability to work with the parents in a meaningful positive way so it is now upon the property owners to enforce some regulations on their property.”

McLaughlin said he knew the school was going to cause headaches when it was introduced, but there was little the City could do to stop it from locating there. However, he said he hoped their traffic plans would work.

But they have not, in his opinion.

“They showed us at that time that they would use Route 16 and Bizarro Lane only as the entrance and exit to the school,” he said. “I knew fully that this would not be the case but hoped that we work through a solution that would be compatible for everyone involved. Sadly to say, that this has not been the case even with the great efforts of the Traffic Commission.”

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