Grandmother’s video prompts bus stop changes

A grandmother’s cellphone video has prompted changes near a school bus stop that some parents and guardians said is dangerous.

A large tree that forced pedestrians off the sidewalk and out into four lanes of traffic along East First Street has been removed and a busted storm drain in the same area will get attention from the city after Barbara Blackburn sent her video to WHIO-TV and NewsCenter 7’s Layron Livingston began asking questions about the conditions near the bus stop.

Blackburn shot her video Thursday morning, the first day of school for her 11-year-old granddaughter.

“You can see all the trucks when they go by … and you feel that they’re going to run into you,” the granddaughter can be heard saying on the video.

Said Blackburn on the video: “You have the other commuters … who will fly around them … I mean, we’ve seen them fishtail … they fly around them so fast which scares us because we don’t know if they’re going to come up on these kids, or not.”

An official with Dayton Public Schools said someone from its transportation department likely will visit the site to see if anything should be done to the bus stop.

The caretaker of the property near the bus stop cut down the tree after he was contacted by NewsCenter 7.

Livingston said a city of Dayton official said the broken drain cover will be referred to the city’s water department.