Duxbury parents ask school committee to restore Pine Lake neighborhood bus stop over safety concerns

During public comment at a Duxbury School Committee meeting residents from the Pine Lake neighborhood asked the committee to work with district transportation to restore a bus stop that had been moved to a main road.

Residents said about 25 school‑age children from their neighborhood use the bus and that the earlier in‑neighborhood stop — which they said had been in place for 20–30 years — was safer and required only an additional one to two minutes of driving time. “We do have about 25 kids in our neighborhood that are school age that take the bus every day,” said Jessica Marconi, who identified herself as a neighborhood resident. Allison Kennedy said, “We want the bus stop moved back inside the neighborhood. It's been like that for 30 years.”

Speakers described the current stop at Elm Street and Pine Lake Road as a blind curve with limited lighting and frequent high speeds. One resident said she obtained a police report describing a recent crash on the same stretch of road and said delivery drivers regularly pass through at early hours, increasing risk for children waiting before sunrise. Several parents said younger children in the neighborhood now walk up to a half mile to reach the bus on the main road and that, in winter or inclement weather, that distance and darkness are particular hazards.

Speakers challenged two explanations the district had given in its responses: that private neighborhood streets cannot be served and that rerouting would be inefficient. Heather Hawk said other private neighborhoods in town have bus stops and that the Alden bus route, which serves the Pine Lake area, makes multiple stops in nearby streets and could loop into the neighborhood without reversing in a cul‑de‑sac. Allison Kennedy and others presented informal counts of nearby stops on Stagecoach Road and argued the district’s efficiency argument did not account for time saved when buses do not pass unpicked students and then return.

Parents asked the committee to advocate with transportation staff and the town for reinstatement of one neighborhood stop, saying the change would reduce safety risks and avoid parents driving children to school. The committee did not take action during that portion of the meeting; the discussion occurred during public comment, and members noted that public comment is not a staff‑response period but that the committee could direct staff to follow up.

The committee did not set a date for further action but committee members encouraged the speakers to follow up with district transportation staff and suggested the committee could request a formal evaluation of the routing decision and safety data.