Parents and community members — largely of the Lakeview Estates and Westview Heights neighborhoods — raised concerns about students who would have had to walk about 2 miles along a stretch of state Route 73, also known as Cory Wride Memorial Highway, to get to and from school.

It’s a road that parents like Kimberly Braithwaite say isn’t safe.

“All of our students would have been expected to cross this high-volume, poorly lit and dangerous highway as part of the walking route to Sage Canyon,” she told the Daily Herald on Tuesday afternoon. “There is no sidewalk or barrier along S.R. 73, which meant they’d have to wind through three different neighborhoods, increasing the distance to the school tremendously.”

The area sits near the intersection of S.R. 73 and Sunset Drive, where Blackridge Elementary School is located.

Originally, the Alpine School District and its transportation division didn’t a feel bus stop was necessary there, because the neighborhoods fall just outside of the eligibility boundary thresholds for automatic busing.

According to the district’s website, bus service isn’t guaranteed for all students to get to and from their respective schools. Per Utah state code, students are supposed to meet a distance criteria for state-supported bus eligibility. For secondary schools, students must live at least 2 miles away, while for elementary schools it’s a mile and a half.

Both Braithwaite and Eagle Mountain resident Laura Jensen spoke before the Alpine School District Board of Education during its meeting Aug. 5, pleading with board members to reconsider given the walking conditions students would be faced with.

“Would we feel safe letting our kids walk this route to school? The answer is absolutely not,” said Jensen, who is running for a seat on the Eagle Mountain City Council. “We are not being overly cautious. We are being realistic and very protective of our beautiful children.”

Braithwaite also expressed concerns due to previous crashes along the thoroughfare.

In December 2024, a crash involving six vehicles left multiple people with injuries and forced closures along a stretch of road for hours, KUTV reported.

Another incident on S.R. 73 in June 2023 that garnered statewide attention resulted in the deaths of Rodney Salm and Michaela Himmleberger, who happened to be out for a drive one Sunday afternoon when two other vehicles became engaged in a fit of road rage, resulting in one losing control and colliding into the Porsche 911 the couple was in.

“S.R. 73 is a historically dangerous highway. Utah Department of Public Safety Highway Safety office cites over 103 crashes on this stretch in Eagle Mountain in the last year alone,” Braithwaite said before the Alpine school board at its Aug. 5 meeting.

Rex Brimhall, director of transportation for the Alpine School District, said that given the nature of concerns brought before the district regarding a potentially hazardous walk for students, they opted to reevaluate the two neighborhoods.

“I just drilled down a little bit deeper to the major (stops) and found out that there were some homes that were eligible for transportation,” he told the Daily Herald. “So we did a quick reversal and added a stop (in) there.”

Brimhall says when distance is being measured to determine which neighborhoods get a bus stop, state code doesn’t always take into account roads that may be deemed hazardous for students to walk along.

“There’s no real accounting for hazardous conditions, because that’s pretty subjective,” he told the Daily Herald.

The Utah Department of Transportation and the city of Eagle Mountain have been working to ensure safety protocols are in place around the new middle school. Construction was recently completed to realign Old Airport Road and connect it with S.R. 73, providing an additional route for drivers and a new access point for Sage Canyon Middle School.

UDOT has also installed new lights and warning signs in multiple areas to help get kids across the road safely.

“We appreciate that,” Brimhall said. “It helps us a lot when we have all the buses, but not necessarily the drivers (we need). So that helps us a lot when that infrastructure is in place.”

Brimhall said the district’s transportation division takes the community’s concerns into consideration when examining which bus stops to implement.

“We take all those calls seriously, (we) reevaluate and make sure that we are accurate on our end,” he said. “That’s what we do is transport kids to and from school, and we’d love to transport everybody if we could.”

Brimhall praised parents and residents for calling attention to the matter, as he said the safety of students is a key priority for all parties.

Braithwaite encourages parents to make their voices heard when an issue regarding their student and school arises, as it can have a positive impact on change.

“If there is a need you feel is being overlooked, don’t be afraid to respectfully bring it to (the school board’s) attention,” she said. “It’s OK to be a squeaky wheel. Parents should feel empowered to speak up for their children, whether you’re the only one standing or there is a neighborhood full of other parents standing with you. Our kids deserve advocates.”