Blue Valley parents worry about student walker safety near new middle school

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.

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Wolf Springs Middle School opens this week in Blue Valley, but some families in a nearby neighborhood say their children have no safe way to walk there.

Sam and Ellie Kolchinsky will walk to the new school along the white line of 175th Street — a route their mother says puts them at risk.

"It's a two-lane road without a shoulder and without any sidewalks along the side," Jill Kolchinsky said.

The side of the road is the only option; there is no sidewalk or other road.

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"They're really great kids, but when there's other factors — like a very busy street — that's out of their control, and other drivers who have to look out for them, that's where it gets nerve-wracking," she said.

The Kolchinsky family lives in the Terrybrook Farms neighborhood, about a mile from the school. Blue Valley requires a minimum distance of 2.5 miles to qualify for a bus.

Jill says she and other neighborhood parents are willing to pay for a bus, but they haven't had any success pitching that to the district.

"It just feels very disingenuous to suggest safety is the priority when we're asking them for help and nothing is being done," she said.

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When I reached out to Blue Valley to ask why bus service was denied, the district said, "Blue Valley continues to face bus driver shortages and budget constraints that limit our ability to add discretionary routes."

The district added that it will consider a paid rider program later this fall and is working with the city of Overland Park to discuss safety on 175th Street.

Overland Park told me they will start road work near 175th and Switzer in 2029. In the meantime, they'll make the stop signs more visible, increase traffic enforcement, and ensure commercial trucks are using the appropriate designated routes and detours during construction.

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For the Kolchinskys, some of those solutions come too late.

"They probably will be walking home the first couple weeks until we figure something out, and it will be kind of nerve-wracking," Jill Kolchinsky said.

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