There has been increased traffic enforcement at the entrance to BVNW on the corner of Switzer Rd. and 132nd St. this past week. According to Overland Park Police Officer Jonathan Batley, this is due to rising complaints in the area of people making illegal turns.
When turning out of the school onto Switzer, it is illegal to turn left when school begins and at the time of dismissal. During this period it is also illegal for vehicles, other than school buses, to turn left from Switzer Rd. into the school parking lot.
According to Batley, these complaints led to tactical officers being assigned to the area for traffic enforcement. Students and other drivers have now been receiving tickets for violating traffic laws, a majority of them being a turn-in violation of a sign.
“It’s just a city ordinance that covers any kind of turns in violation of the sign,” Batley said. “That’s a pretty basic one that we write in those kind of situations.”
According to the Overland Park Municipal Code 12.04.050(b), the punishment for this type of violation is $91. However, if one wants to contest the citation, they are able to take it to court, Batley said.
“You get about a month to decide if you want to pay a fine or go to court to contest it,” Batley said. “If you decide to contest it, they set a trial date in the future couple [of] months.”
If an individual continually receives traffic citations, it can have an effect on their overall driving privileges, including an eventual suspension of their license.
Administrative consultant Gary Howard was standing outside of the school greeting students as they walked in on Sept. 27 when he said he saw a cop car with its lights on following another car into the school drop-off line.
“I don’t think it’s good for parents that are trying to drop off people. We have a ten or 15-minute wait for 25-30 cars parked out there,” Howard said.
According to Batley, the city will continue to assign officers to the Northwest area until a solution is found.
“If we continue to get complaints, we’ll continue to assign officers [and] if the officers continue to make like a bunch of stops, then enforcement might need to be increased,” Batley said. “It might be evidence that something else needs to be done traffic-wise, whether it’s changing the traffic pattern or putting in a traffic signal.”
