Council rejects funding to build secondary access drive for Independence Primary School

The Independence City Council voted 3-4 on Oct. 14, 2025 against awarding a contract and authorizing up to $150,000 to build a secondary access drive into Independence Primary School from Brecksville Road.

City officials and school leaders said the new entrance would split morning and afternoon pickup traffic, reduce backups on Hillside Road and provide an alternate evacuation route for first responders. Opponents on council said the proposal left too many uncertainties — including how much of the road and median work could be completed with the requested funds, the precise cost of an easement, who would maintain the drive and whether the work would actually reduce backup on adjacent streets.

Don, a city staff member who presented the plan, described the design as “an 800 foot long, 12 foot wide, secondary access way into Independence Primary…