ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — It's the sign that parents in St. Johns Forest have been looking for for the better part of five years.
The sidewalk connecting the neighborhood and Liberty Pines Academy is closed.
Work started Saturday to move it further off the roadway so kids can walk more safely from St. Johns Forest to Liberty Pines Academy.
Some parents are hoping this is just the beginning of the effort to get kids to school in a safer manner.
"Our kids are our biggest priority," said Liberty Pines Academy Parent Rachael Bunnell. "The fact that it's been going on for almost five years, we just didn't really think that it'd be a fight we still have to fight."
Bunnell distinctly remembers the day she found out her kids would no longer have a bus to take them to school, and instead would need to walk along St. Johns Parkway and Highway 9B for close to two miles to get to school at Liberty Pines Academy.
"Once we actually saw the path and started walking it, that's when everyone got together to start a plan," said Bunnell.
The parents in St. Johns Forest were able to push back enough that St. Johns County, St. Johns County Schools and FDOT teamed up for a study to look at the sidewalk's safety in 2021.
That study cited several dozen crashes, but ultimately determined the sidewalk wasn't hazardous enough to require a bus.
"The studies were done prior to the new neighborhoods being built," said Darlene Guerra, who lives in St. Johns Forest and has children who used to attend the school. "We just want them to do a new, updated study to show the change."
The county and FDOT have put together a project to move the sidewalk several feet further off the road.
The school district has agreed to issue a bus for the rest of the school year while that happens, but these parents would like to see that temporary bus become permanent even after the new sidewalk opens up.
"My daughter was in kindergarten last year," said LPA Parent Kimberly Reach. "I would never send her on a 45 minute walk next to an on ramp."
County Commission Chairman Henry Dean says they're hoping to have the sidewalk done in time for kids to head back to school in the Fall.
The temporary bus will go start picking students up Tuesday since schools are closed Monday for President's Day.