ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Many children living along Greenbriar Road in St. Johns County’s Switzerland area rely on the sidewalk along that major artery to get to and from school each and every day.
“There’s a big front section of my neighborhood that’s inside of that two-mile radius, so they don’t qualify for the bus service,” parent & neighbor Nancy Tray explained Thursday.
However, parents told Action News Jax the sidewalk has now been closed due to construction for close to a week. They said they feel it’s been unsafe even when open.
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This all comes as the county prepares to widen that heavily traveled road, providing a fair share of headaches for parents.
Tom Morrison said his kids can’t take the bus instead, since they are deemed too close to their attended school.
“Instead of them being able to walk, ride a bike, take the sidewalk, now it’s breaking up the middle of the day, getting back to the house when I’d normally be at work, and getting kids picked up to and from school,” Morrison explained.
While the St. Johns County School District told Action News Jax Thursday they’ll now be expanding bus access after spring break for those students within the two-mile bus limits, parents like Morrison explained in the meantime, they’re dealing with the consequences of what they call a lack of planning ahead by county officials.
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“These kids are having to figure it out in the meantime, and that should not have happened,” Tray argued.
“Why start it now when we don’t have a solid plan going forward?” added Morrison.
Action News Jax reached out to county officials for a statement. We are still waiting on a response.
Beginning tomorrow, more construction on County Road 210 will impact areas from Greenbriar Road to Cimarrone Boulevard. Neighbors in the Stone Creek neighborhood told Action News Jax over the weekend that it will severely impact their most commonly used routes.
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