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Sumner County committee urges school board, full commission to address Hunters Lane traffic and safety
Summary
After more than a dozen residents described daily traffic backups, blocked driveways and speeding near new Liberty Creek schools, a Sumner County committee voted to ask the full commission and the school board to review traffic controls, engineering and enforcement at Hunters Lane, Wolfpack Way and nearby intersections.
On Monday, Jan. 6, residents from neighborhoods near the Liberty Creek school complex told the Sumner County Health & Emergency Services Committee that daily school-dropoff and pickup patterns are blocking driveways, creating dangerous speeding and could prevent emergency vehicles from reaching homes.
The concerns prompted the committee to vote to forward a formal request to the full commission and to ask that the county ask the Sumner County Board of Education to add the issue to its agenda. The committee chair said he would withhold approval of adopting Wolfpack Way as a county road until the safety problems are addressed.
Why it matters: Residents said the problems are chronic during dismissal and pickup windows, not limited to an occasional backup, and they warned that blocked driveways and vehicles traveling at high speed on the hill create a genuine risk of injury or of emergency responders being delayed.
Residents told the committee they regularly find their driveways blocked during the school pickup window. "There were 22 cars on Hunters," said Mike Clark, identifying himself as a neighborhood resident at 102 Tilda Trail, describing one recent afternoon. "We need a barrier down there. Somebody needs to put some pressure on the school superintendent." Several other residents reported similar counts and described near misses when vehicles travel at high speed.
Citizens also described earlier, temporary measures that helped. Multiple speakers said a school resource officer or a public safety officer had been present for short periods during the first weeks after the schools opened and that traffic flow temporarily improved. Several residents said school staff told them cars are not allowed on the school property prior to 2 p.m.; that policy, they said, contributes to the queue on Wolfpack Way and Hunters Lane.
County committee members and staff outlined the limits of their authority. The committee chair said Wolfpack Way has not yet been accepted as a county road and that the board can withhold adoption as leverage to require fixes. "I will not vote to ever pass Wolfpack Way until this issue is cleared up," the chair said. School Superintendent Ellis told the committee that the Latimer Lane and Long Hollow intersection is already in the state planning pipeline with the Tennessee Department of Transportation for a traffic signal, and that other measures — signage, rumble strips and better circulation using existing real estate near the school — are under discussion.
After discussion, a committee member moved that the committee forward a request to the full commission and ask the school board to place the following items on its agenda: review traffic at Latimer and Hunters; Latimer and Long Hollow; and Hunters and Wolfpack Way; consider ways to prevent turn-lane stacking and driveway blocking; and have the engineer of record revisit the plans and inventory locations where storage/widening could reduce backups. A second was recorded and the committee voted to forward the request to the full commission; the motion passed despite two dissenting votes recorded earlier during procedural debate. The chair also said he would ask that the item be added to the Health & Emergency Services committee agenda immediately following the meeting.
What was not decided: The committee did not adopt any new traffic-control ordinance, authorize county road construction, or reassign enforcement authority. Committee members repeatedly noted that enforcement of traffic violations is the responsibility of law enforcement and that some remedies — such as signal installation or road widening — involve the state or capital funds and will take time.
Next steps: The committee will forward the request to the full commission and asked staff to prepare a formal resolution. Committee members encouraged residents to email school board members and said staff and officials would meet with the school system and the engineer of record to inventory options and report back. The chair indicated he would not recommend adopting Wolfpack Way as a county road until the committee and school system present a plan to address the safety concerns.
