Richford Gardens Neighbors: Don't Want 22 Buses a Day

Affton Superintendent of Schools Steve Brotherton wants a safer situation for students at Gotsch Intermediate when students arrive and leave the school. He sees routing buses through the Richford Gardens neighborhood as a solution.

Affton School District Director of Communications Erica Chandler said bus and other traffic shared one entrance/exit off Laclede Station Road, which causes buses, cars and student walkers to be intermingled at drop off and pick up. 

Chandler said separating buses and cars provides a less chaotic and safer scenario for students to get to and from school. 

Neighbors in the Richford Gardens neighborhood don’t like the plan because the buses would go through their streets to get there.

Lucille Rettig, who lives on Craighill Drive, said there are children in the neighborhood to be kept safe too.

“I see this mom going through everyday, and she’s got two dogs and a baby in the carriage, and there’s no sidewalks,” Rettig said. 

Louis Rizzuti also lives on a part of Craighill Drive.

“The streets are in somewhat bad shape already,” he said. “The heavy buses will come through and do more damage.”

Rizzuti said the buses will probably end up coming through the neighborhood. “It’s hard to stop it,” he said.

Watch the video, which shows the route from Richford to Craighill to Rockhaven and around the corner to Gotsch.