School board flip-flops on bus stop at busy DDO intersection

Kashif Inayatpicks up his children from the bus stop every day. But up until this week, that was an exercise in caution.

Inayat said heavy traffic around the stop neara gas station at theintersection of Churchill St. and Sources Blvd. in Dollard-des-Ormeaux made it dangerous for his son and daughter, who both attend coleprimaire Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

"This is a major road, so the buses are passing very closely to the sidewalk. In winter, the sidewalks are slippery," Inayattold CBC News.

"Some kids might fall down and end up on the road."

Inayat and his wife asked the Commission scolaireMarguerite-Bourgeoys(CSMB) to move the bus stop to their apartment complex, about 200 metres down the road. That's where most of the kids who get off the bus at that stop live, Inayatsaid.

They made a formal request last year,but Inayat said the school board refused. Another request at the start of this school year then went unanswered, he said.

Earlier today, however, CBC News contacted the school board, and it said it would do something about it.

"The stop will be in front of the buildingwhere the children live in order for it to be safe," a spokesperson for the CSMB saidin an email. The school board said it takes security seriously.

That's welcome news for Inayat and today, his children got off the bus at their new stop.

"I'm very happy. I'm actually very satisfied," he said.

It's also something his children, 8-year-old Muhammad Ammaar, and 6-year-old Meerab, are happy about, too.

"I don't like the trucks passing by," Meerab said.

With files from CBC'sKate McKenna