Atwater Road in Chadds Ford Township continues to be a no-man's land when it comes to traffic, school buses and children. And there are no current plans to change that situation. As first reported in the Chadds Ford Post's Sept. 8, 2005 edition, parents on Atwater Road drive their school-aged kids to the bottom of the street where it intersects with Webb Road, then wait for the bus with the youngsters. Yet the road is too narrow to accommodate the number of vehicles that are waiting on the side of the road while other traffic, including construction vehicles, traverses up and down the street.

Also as reported then, school buses from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District will not go up Atwater because the upper portion – where there is a cul-de-sac large enough for a bus to turn around – is a private road.

The district will only send buses on public roads, Gail Wolfer, director of transportation for the school district said at the time. She also added that the district would not send buses up Atwater until home construction was completed.

To date, nothing has changed according to two Atwater Road residents, Lana Sheer and Keith Klaver. Both remain concerned for the safety of the children, and both said so during the June 6 Chadds Ford Township Board of Supervisors' meeting.

Agreeing with them was school board director Ed Wandersee.

"The situation is the same as it was 18 months ago," Wandersee said in a telephone interview after the meeting. "There's still construction going on and there's still no dedication. ... The district is as concerned about safety as any parent, but we can't run buses on roads [such as Atwater.] ... We have to follow state regulations."

Wandersee added that the situation is not unique to Atwater Road, that there are many similar situations in the Unionville-Chadds Ford and other districts in Chester County.

He said that's part of the rural nature of the county, with many small, narrow streets, some privately owned, and few traffic lights.

The only thing he can suggest to do until buses can run up Atwater, he said, is for parents to organize themselves so that one or two stay with the kids waiting for the bus. This would cut down on the number of cars waiting at the bottom of the street.

Sheer suggested to the supervisors that the amount of subdivision along Atwater was part of the reason for the problem. At that point, Supervisors' Vice Chairman George Thorpe and road master Joe Barakat argued that the township could not and should not interfere with a property owner's right to subdivide.

Thorpe went so far as to say Sheer could not have built her current home if subdivision was restricted.

According to Supervisors' Chairman Deborah Love D'Elia, there is no current timetable for the township to take dedication of the upper portion of Atwater.

Sheer and Klaver did get some good news about their street, however. The lower portion, near the intersection with Webb Road will finally be repaved.

The roadway was been in poor shape because of construction traffic and because a culvert had to be repaired a few years ago.

Sheer asked if the repair would be done on one half of the road first and the other half later so that residents could still get to and from their homes.

Thorpe responded with a question: "Why don't you go to the movies?"