Nikki Lansford  - Prairie Village

Prairie Village adds ‘No Parking’ signs to ease traffic issues caused by Curé of Ars school dismissal

Prairie Village has added some "No Parking" signs on 93rd Street, a residential byway across Mission Road from the Curé of Ars Catholic School. Residents in Prairie Village and Leawood have complained of congestion at the school, which builds up during dismissal each day. Image via Leawood Public Works Committee.

Changes are being made along 93rd Street in Prairie Village as residents continue to complain of traffic congestion in their neighborhoods caused daily by the dismissal at nearby Curé of Ars Catholic School.

The school sits at 9403 Mission Road, just north of 95th Street, near the busy confluence of Leawood, Prairie Village and Overland Park.

The school is is surrounded mostly by residential subdivisions, many of which have been experiencing traffic backups caused by parents waiting to pick their children up at the end of each school day.

It was an issue that came before a Leawood city council committee earlier this month, with committee members suggesting to school officials that they consider staggering dismissal times as a way to help alleviate the build up of vehicles.

Now, the Prairie Village Police Department recently put up “No Parking” signs along 93rd Street to the west of Mission Road (in Prairie Village city limits) to dissuade parents from idling in the area.

“We had some complaints from the parents and some concerns about safety,” Captain Erin McCullough told the Post.

McCullogh said the department’s traffic team went down to evaluate the situation and felt it would be safer for the kids and cause less congestion for the residents if they added the new signage.

Curé of Ars Principal Andrew Legler said he was aware of the issues the Prairie Village side of 93rd Street is experiencing.

“I live on the first cul-de-sac west of Mission Road in Prairie Village,” Legler said. “I can tell you that cul-de-sac had lots of traffic.”

Prairie Village resident Bruce Ridge, who lives along 93rd Street, said he believes the new “No Parking” signs are a step in the right direction, but he still worries about about other safety issues.

Though not nearly as many parents are parking along his road, Ridge said, he still worries about the kids walking around the area at dismissal time.

“Kids are moving across the street in all kinds of directions,” Ridge said. “And that’s what I think is the issue here, sooner or later somebody is going to get hit.”

Curé of Ars officials plan to meet again with the Leawood City Council’s Public Works Committee early next year to present more solutions to reduce traffic backups in the surrounding areas.

Legler said the school is currently working on these solutions and hopes they will help reduce the traffic caused by the school’s end-of-day let out.

Hi! I'm Nikki, and I cover the city of Overland Park.

I grew up in southern Overland Park and graduated from Olathe East before going on to earn a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. At Mizzou, I worked as a reporter and editor at the Columbia Missourian. Prior to joining the Post, I had also done work for the Northeast News, PolitiFact Missouri and Kaiser Health News.

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