Independent Bonn International School Daily parking chaos at the gates
BONN/HEIDERHOF · Residents criticise the daily parking situation near the Independent Bonn International School when parents pull up near the gates to drop off or pick up their children. Online, the school refers to the problem as „one of our greatest challenges“.
It is 8.35am, just before the first classes at the Independent Bonn International School (IBIS). At the part of the Tulpenbaumweg where stopping is only permitted for not more than three minutes, the queue of cars grows. Impatient parents want to chauffeur their kids to the school gates, many want to accompany them even to the classroom. More and more cars park here. Students try to slip through between the cars. Now, a second queue has started. In front of the gates, a volunteering mother helps children onto the school grounds who arrived without their parents. Principal Irene Bolik arrives. At 8.50am, the queue has finally dissipated. Also, a large car that has been blocking the fire brigade access to the neighbouring retirement home, finally roars away.
„The chaos is getting worse and worse“, says resident Gisela Osterhoff, while bringing out the rubbish. She did see team members of the regulatory agency, issuing parking tickets for the parking offenders. But that didn’t change much. During the peak times, the residents have no chance to park in front of their own houses, readers told the GA. Even nursing staff can’t get to the patients. „Today it was kind of okay, but sometimes we don’t know how to get onto our grounds“, say Adevye Göndöz, who works for the AWO outpatient care service and who is heading to her car.
Yesterday, she counted 40 randomly parked cars, some of them on the pavement, a resident who does not want to be named, claims. One was even parked on the green area. „During that time, nobody with a walking frame can access the shopping centre. Recently, an ambulance could not stop outside the retirement home“, the woman explains and asks for the school to invite the afflicted residents for discussions.
The IBIS is aware of the parking situation. It is „one of our greatest challenges“, it says on the school’s homepage. But there is no easy solution if parents of three- to six-year-olds drop their children off or collect them after school.
The school is appealing to the parents to consider their responsibility for the children’s interest and organizes the „drop-off-duty“, the voluntary parent service near the road and with teachers patrolling the school yard, hoping to calm the situation, principal Bolik told the GA. Parents who are smart about it, booked parking spaces belonging to a nearby building block or use alternative parking areas on the Pappelweg and the Tulpenbaumweg as well as the shopping centre, said Bolik. „From there, it is possible to walk the children to school.“
During the afternoon, when parents wait to collect their children, the situation often turns „chaotic“, Bolik admits. „We did call the regulatory agency ourselves before, because parents were unreasonable.“
As a spokesperson for the regulatory agency, Carsten Sperling says, that there were problems filed in 2017 and during patrols, parking tickets were issued. Depending on man power the patrol intervals may be increased. Also, the local police is aware of the problem, says Michael Beyer, police spokesperson, but is not in charge of „static“ traffic.
Original text: Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu, Translation: Mareike Graepel
