Families concerned by overgrown brush blocking school bus stop in Brighton

BRIGHTON, Ala. ( WIAT ) — A viewer in Brighton called CBS 42’s Your Voice Your Station team during this year’s phone bank, asking for help concerning her grandchildren’s school bus stop at a dangerous location.

Half a dozen kids catch the school bus at the corner of Morgan Avenue and Jaybird Road in Brighton each morning. The kids stand just feet from cars going 40 to 50 miles an hour, and the view of oncoming traffic is partially blocked by overgrown brush.

“If you look how the grass is over here on the highway, once the bus come down, you can’t see the bus until the bus is at the stop,” Brighton resident Aldrinette Bell said.

Bell says she’s contacted the city before about the bus stop for the children’s sake, including her own grandchildren.

“I reached out to the city of Brighton,” Bell said. “They said they were getting something done, and as you can see ain’t nothing been done.”

CBS 42 spoke to Brighton Mayor Eddie Cooper, who confirmed that overgrown brush is the city’s responsibility. We were then referred to Brighton’s Police Chief Larry Woods.

“The city of Brighton has been very vigilantly trying to get the weeds cut back, as far as they can before it turns into private property,” Woods said.

We returned to the spot with Chief Woods and observed a work crew nearby, cutting the brush as far back as the city is permitted. A Brighton woman, whose children catch the bus at the stop, voiced her concerns during our interview with Woods.

“The kids have to get off, they be speeding and it’s dangerous,” she said.

In response, Chief Woods offered a practical solution.

“If they did it on a side street to pick kids up and drop them — like what’s behind you — it would be a lot safer,” Woods said.

Additionally, a spokesperson with Jefferson County Schools issued the following statement to CBS 42:

“No bus currently stops on Jaybird Road and Morgan Avenue in Brighton. In fact, there are no stops on Jaybird Road.”

An hour before we received that statement, CBS 42 captured video of students boarding a Jefferson County bus on Jaybird Road at the corner of Morgan Avenue.

When shown the video, JCS confirmed it was a bus from Pleasant Grove High School and sent us another statement reading in part:

“We do not have any plans to move this stop at this time.  There is clear sight distance (at least 500 feet) in both directions on Jaybird Road.  It is also a right-hand pick-up and no students cross the road.”

The city of Brighton says they have removed all of the brush they plan to from the area near the bus stop. Chief Woods says the city is working to send citations to nearby property owners to maintain their properties.

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