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Waxhaw police, staff urge UCPS coordination after traffic directors removed at Waxhaw Elementary
Summary
Town police and staff told commissioners the UCPS decision to remove traffic directors and impose a right‑in/right‑out pattern at Waxhaw Elementary raises pedestrian‑safety concerns; the board asked the chief to request a coordinated meeting with UCPS, NCDOT and MTSA and approved drafting a data‑driven letter to school leaders.
Commissioners raised an email from Union County Public Schools (UCPS) notifying the town that traffic directors were removed and Waxhaw Elementary would operate as right‑in/right‑out. Chief Dex Wilson (speaker 10) and town engineers warned the change could worsen safety at nearby intersections given a history of angle collisions and documented suspected serious injuries in a five‑year crash history around the NC‑75/Old Providence intersection.
Chief Wilson described his principal concerns: “If there's not a traffic director at that intersection, then these are elementary aged children that will be crossing that road, going to school, and coming out of that school, through that crosswalk.” He also warned that rerouting parent traffic to NC‑75 and Old Providence would push vehicles toward an intersection due for a roundabout that is not scheduled until 2028, compounding risk in the near term.
Staff and the chief recommended that the police chief request a coordination meeting with UCPS, NCDOT, MTSA and local engineering staff, and that the town send a letter (co‑signed by the mayor and police chief) summarizing the crash data, the intersection grade and safety concerns. Commissioners asked staff to request supporting documentation from UCPS about safety analyses and origin‑destination or traffic studies used to reach the change. Staff said they would prepare the data and help the chief lead outreach.
