Bigfork bus route draws criticism

Bigfork School District administrators and school board trustees received some pushback after changing how buses approach the school during afternoons.

Residents Wendy Miller and Shelli Riedesel brought forward safety concerns and a petition to a Nov. 8 board meeting asking trustees to vote on the change.

Until recently, buses were approaching the bus loading zone two different ways roughly between 2:35 and 3 p.m. according to Bigfork Superintendent Matt Jensen. Buses aren’t loaded with students during this time. Four buses started at the district bus barn on Commerce Street, turned onto Cascade Avenue and then turned onto Grand Drive toward the district — referred to as the “downhill approach.”

Another four buses were driving from Holt Drive onto Grand Drive and making a U-turn through a crosswalk to approach the district.

These approaches have been done for at least 20 years, Jensen estimated.

All buses currently use the U-turn approach in the morning, which will not change.

The proposed change is that all eight buses would take the downhill approach to the bus loading zone in the afternoon, and have done so on a trial basis. Motivations for the change are consistency, safety and efficiency, according to Jensen and Bigfork Transportation Director Rob Tracy.

“We noticed the buses were having increased conflict with cars parked there,” Jensen said.

“It probably happens every other day if not every day that someone is parked where they shouldn’t be. When we started evaluating should we use the hill or do a U-turn — U-turning through a crosswalk is probably not a good idea,” Jensen said.

The district then had Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Larry Adorni inspect the approaches. Adorni told the Inter Lake that drivers should consider how many variables can be controlled and what cannot in a given situation. In the instance of making a U-turn through a crosswalk, there are likely to be more uncontrollable variables versus driving in a straight path. However, Adorni said he wouldn’t recommend driving downhill if weather or road conditions were bad. He said it’s ultimately up to the school district to weigh those variables and decide the best approach.

Jensen said when weather conditions do not permit driving downhill buses will take the U-turn approach.

“We will post a flagger to stop traffic and to make sure cars are out of the way and have the buses U-turn,” Jensen said.

Tracy added that he had to flag traffic on Nov. 8.

“If we were to flag every day, we need to hire someone,” Jensen said.

When asked why the U-turn approach was safer during the morning, Jensen reiterated that the difference is in the amount of traffic, primarily parked vehicles. He said fewer students are also using the crosswalk.

Riedesel and Miller disagreed with the school district’s points, citing an informal traffic and pedestrian count they did one afternoon.

Although Miller and Riedesel do not live in the neighborhood that will be directly affected by an increase in bus traffic, both were impacted when their children’s bus driver, Pam Capagli, was relieved of the route because she wouldn’t comply with driving it out of safety concerns. Capagli had driven the route since 2007, and has been a bus driver for more than 22 years. Capagli voiced her concern to trustees through a letter stating that “the downhill approach is an accident waiting to happen” noting “that road conditions can change very fast...”

She asked the district to discontinue the downhill approach.

After discussing the matter at length, trustees asked what Miller and Riedesel wanted the board to do.

“What I would like you to do is ask Mr. Tracy to refrain from having the buses drive that route at all,” Miller said referring to the hill. “The residents don’t like it. The buses don’t like it. It is dangerous. It adds pedestrian danger. It adds all kinds of problems.”

A few community members weighed in the matter in subsequent phone calls with The Daily Inter Lake.

Resident Richard Stilkey and his wife live near the corner of Cascade Avenue and Grand Drive where buses turn downhill.

Besides stating safety during the winter as an issue, he said a top concern is the width of the streets. With the increased bus traffic the only thing separating homes and traffic are lawns, he said.

“We tolerated one or two, up to four — OK, but then double that? We can’t handle a lot of traffic, especially big long vehicles. It’s a small, residential area,” Stilkey said. “Each additional bus makes a bad situation worse.”

Neighborhood resident Katie Railey told the Inter Lake an accident had already occurred this fall when a vehicle hit a guardrail.

“And even though I know bus drivers are super cautious — last winter that whole area didn’t get plowed frequently,” Railey said. “It’s slick heading down the hill.”

Suzie Keenan, co-owner of Bigfork Inn located on Grand Drive, said she hasn’t noticed the increase in buses driving by because her business opens later in the afternoon, but did say another concerning intersection is Grand Drive and Electric Avenue leading to downtown Bigfork.

“Most people have to pull partway out to see up the hill,” Keenan said. “It’s always been a dangerous intersection.”

While trustees hadn’t planned on voting on the matter, they ultimately decided to do so at the next board meeting at 5 p.m., Dec. 13 in Bigfork High School library.

Flathead County Superintendent of Schools Jack Eggensperger said that if the approach change resulted in added mileage and the district wanted reimbursement a vote would have been required by both the Bigfork school board and the Flathead County Transportation Committee.

“I don’t think change was made out of inclination to put more people, or kids at risk, or property at risk. I just don’t buy into that,” Bigfork School Board Chairman Paul Sandry said.

There are more than 400 students who ride the bus, according to Jensen.

“I think that if you live next to a school there’s probably some inconveniences with that,” Jensen said after the board meeting. “I get it. We’re trying to be sensitive to that. We’re trying to be good neighbors.”

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.