Parents push for safety improvements on speedy stretch of Cumberland Parkway near daycare

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - In Cobb County, families say a stretch of Cumberland Parkway near their children’s daycare is so dangerous that a Change.org petition for additional safety improvements has garnered a few hundred signatures.

Parent Nicole Whatley said she loves everything about Creative World School, the daycare she sends her son to except its location on the busy road.

"We liked that it was new and their focus on stem education for kids," she explained. "It’s at the bottom of a hill and if you’re going down that hill in a car you do naturally pick up momentum, but if you’re already speeding then you could be going anywhere from probably 50-60 mph."  

Whatley said it’s not unusual to see cars racing down the curvy road or the damage from previous crashes. 

COBB COUNTY MAY USE FEDERAL MONEY FOR PUBLIC SAFETY

"A car had crashed into a guard rail right in front of the school and completely took out the guard rail," she recalled.

According to Cobb County police, there have been 17 accidents near this stretch of Cumberland Parkway in just the last year. 

"Parents are concerned…they see the damage that’s being done to hit a guard rail and take it down you have to be going pretty fast and lose control," Whatley said.

The daycare has emailed parents after each time its sign was hit by a driver. This last time, Whatley said they included a link to this petition for more speed deterrents along that part of the parkway, which she signed without hesitation. 

"My concern is that somebody will get hurt," she said.

Andrew Raessler, Cobb County’s Director of Transportation, said after representatives for the daycare reached out about the issue, the county conducted an audit of the crash reports, which revealed wet weather was a contributing factor. From there, they started looking at solutions. 

"We determined (that we’d) put out a high friction surface treatment…to add some more friction to almost make it like sandpaper so that the tires can grip it a little bit better during wet weather," he stated. 

DOT officials are also working with Cobb County police on speed enforcement as part of the effort to slow drivers down. 

Raessler said the weather caused some delay in the plans to begin working on this earlier in the week, but they will begin working on it in the next few days. The first phase of improvements is expected to be completed in the next month.