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City, school board agree on traffic flip at Lions Creek Middle to ease dangerous morning congestion
Summary
After years of complaints, the City of Coconut Creek and Broward County School Board approved a traffic improvement agreement to flip bus and parent drop-off zones at Lions Creek Middle School. The board voted unanimously following testimony from municipal leaders, police and parents who described chronic congestion and safety problems.
The School Board of Broward County approved a traffic-improvement agreement with the City of Coconut Creek to change the car and bus drop-off configuration at Lions Creek Middle School, a move municipal leaders and police said is needed to relieve daily gridlock and safety hazards.
The board’s vote followed testimony from Coconut Creek Mayor Riley, City Manager Sheila Rose and Police Chief Fred Hoefer, who described a long history of congestion that spills into surrounding neighborhoods and requires constant traffic-unit deployments during arrival and dismissal. The city said it has spent roughly $200,000 per year on traffic management around the school for several years and urged a permanent fix.
Nut Graf: The agreement calls for flipping the locations used by buses and cars for morning drop-off — moving parent drop-off onto a roadway with greater capacity — and includes city-funded work on adjacent public property and coordination of permits and construction so portions of the plan can be in place before the next school year.
What the board approved: Board members heard that the change is intended to keep walkers and bicyclists in designated school zones, reduce the number of incidents of cars blocking driveways, and reduce the heavy demand on city police resources. The board voted unanimously to approve the agreement and urged staff and the city to move quickly, with staff saying the parent/drop-off portion could be implemented first while larger design work proceeds.
Community response and next steps: Coconut Creek officials said they will contribute funding for the work and will coordinate permitting to accelerate construction; school district staff said some components may be completed in phases, with the parent drop-off flip prioritized for the start of the next school year. The district and city plan to continue meeting on detailed design, traffic modeling and community communications.
Ending: After the vote, several residents and school leaders who had attended the meeting thanked the board and city for what they called a long-overdue effort to reduce a daily safety risk around the school.
