Members of the Jacksonville community are questioning Baltimore County plans to create a school bus lot close to what they call a dangerous and environmentally unsound intersection.
The county plans to convert a government-owned public works training site off Paper Mill Road into a parking lot for about 40 school buses, said county spokesman Don Mohler. A former Nike missile site, county officials said a consolidated bus depot will make bus routes serving Jacksonville Elementary, Carroll Manor Elementary, Cockeysville Middle and Dulaney High schools more efficient and conserve gas.
The depot also will keep the buses, which drivers currently take home, off residential streets.
“Geographically, the site makes perfect sense,” Mohler said. “It?s already owned by the county, it?s already used by public works.”
But Jacksonville residents are concerned about the site?s history of environmental problems ? including the discovery of groundwater contamination in the 1980s. Residents are wary of diesel gas tanks that will fuel the buses, and say the lot will draw traffic to an already congested, hazardous road.
Glen Thomas, president of the Greater Jacksonville Community Association, spoke against the plans at Tuesday?s Board of Education meeting. The site is about a quarter mile from Paper Mill Road and Jarretsville Pike, he said, the site of an Exxon Station where thousands of gallons of gasoline leaked in the early part of the year. Thomas said the lot sits near a curve in the road, where traffic flies from both directions.
“The Greater Jacksonville Association doesn?t think this decision is in the best interest of the community or the school system,” he said.
The county?s Development Review Committee approved the plans as a limited exemption in August, paving the way for quicker county approval. But Mohler said County Executive Jim Smith has ordered traffic engineers to study the intersection and plans to meet with the community before a final decision is made.
The tanks, Mohler said, will be stored above ground and Smith is also asking police to tighten speed patrols.
