Bus cuts lead to traffic jams in Bonsall

Parents dropping off their students for the first day of school at Bonsall Elementary on Monday were greeted with unwelcome lines of traffic on roads leading to the school, as a result of the District’s cuts in bus transportation.

Traffic was backed up past the Camino del Rey and Highway 76 intersection, spilling over to community roads surrounding the school. The situation led to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responding to the scene and attempting to alleviate the situation by directing traffic.

But alleviating the problem was an almost impossible task. CHP Officer Steven Zelasco said that, because of the amount of traffic on the street, there were reports of parents parking by the SR76 and Camino del Rey intersection, crossing in front of traffic on the road and jumping the school fence in order to drop their children off on time.

Selina Gallagher, a parent who lives only three miles from the school, says she had never seen traffic like this, claiming that the situation was reminiscent of “people trying to get out of town due to a natural disaster.”

The drive that normally would take Gallagher five minutes ended up taking about an hour and fifteen minutes, causing her daughter to be 45 minutes late for class.

Dr. Justin Cunningham, superintendent of the Bonsall Union School District, said while the lack of busing played a large role of the amount of traffic in the area, another reason for the confusion and traffic was because parents were unaware that there has been a second pick up and drop off point established at the school, at the “old entrance.”

Cunningham said “about 80 percent” of parents were trying to get to the same area, but the situation would become smoother if students in grades 3-5 are dropped off at the community center, and students in grades K-2 are dropped off at the new entrance.

Zelasco said the afternoon pickup is the worst at the campus, because while morning traffic is staggered (because children can be dropped off earlier), in the afternoon all classes dismiss at the same time, causing heavy traffic in a short period of time.

To combat this, the school is trying to develop a way to communicate which parents are waiting for their children and have the teachers line up the children in that order. However, this can be difficult if parents are late or early to pick up their children.

Cunningham said the district is working to get a minimum number of buses running again to serve neighborhoods with a high volume of children, such as Pala and Rancho Viejo, to help alleviate the traffic crunch.

Since all bus drivers normally on these routes were let go, the district cannot use the buses until part time drivers are hired to run the routes. In the mean time, the district is extending day care options for children whose parents are coming from high density areas, and a link to a neighborhood carpool program has been posted on the school’s Web site.

Gallagher said she dropped off her daughter 45 minutes early on Tuesday, just so she would not have to sit in the traffic, and hopes the district figures out the situation before it becomes more hectic.

“Something’s got to be done; it doesn’t make any sense to not have the buses running; and I feel for parents who have to go to work.” she said.

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