Harrow mother demands daughter’s bus stop is moved off gravel shoulder

A Harrow mother is advocating for her eight-year-old daughter’s bus stop to be moved, over concerns the current location puts her in harm’s way.

Lidia Franzoi said there’s a sense of “fear” each morning when her daughter, Julia, walks about 200 feet along County Road 20 to her bus stop.

“It’s fear I’m going to get hit by a car or she’s going to get hit by a car,” Franzoi told CTV News in an interview.

In the morning, Julia is picked up in front of another student’s home. Franzoi said the walk is along a narrow gravel lane that measures less than six feet wide.

In the afternoon, both Julia and the other student are dropped off in front of Franzoi’s home. Previously, Julia and the other student were picked up at separate stops.

The posted speed limit is 80 km/h. Franzoi said cars are known to speed in the area and can sometimes accidentally cross the line onto the shoulder of the road.

“I was completely beside myself because I had already fought it four years ago to have it changed to our driveway,” she noted.

“I can't see why they would want and allow children to walk down this highway.”

Franzoi has made two attempts to have the bus stop reviewed by the Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Services (WESTS), but both have been denied. She has recently launched another effort to have the stop altered.

Decisions reviewed by CTV News state the bus stop is 55 metres from their home and it is “parental responsibility to get their child to and from school or to and from the bus stop safely.”

According to the Transportation Services’ website, several safety hazards are considered to determine whether students can walk to their bus stop, including traffic, number of road lanes travelled to a stop, speed, sidewalks, crossing support and age.

"I feel like they keep looking past that and going back to policies that don't seem to matter as much as the hazards," Franzoi said.

In an interview with CTV News, Chris Arthurs, general manager for the WESTS said the decision was made due to the two previous stops being close together.

“It was reviewed by a road planner. It was two different stops, but catching this, it was 55 metres apart, which is very close for having two bus stops,” Arthurs said over the phone.

In the latest appeal process, Arthurs stated they could propose potential ideas to ease concerns.

“There were other options as well that I can bring forth to the board of directors during our meeting,” Arthurs said.

“Ultimately, it is the responsibility for the parent or guardian to ensure their children’s safety to and from that bus stop.”

However, as winter approaches, Franzoi is fearful snow could build up along the gravel shoulder and leave her daughter little room to walk to the bus stop.

"Come the winter months, the shoulders are not accessible when the plow goes by and shovels, that's where the snow goes," Franzoi said.

A decision on the bus stop will be made by the WESTS board of directors at a meeting on Oct. 17.