Ottawa school bus shortage blamed for 2.5-km walk to bus stop in North Gower [Video]

With the start of the new school year just days away, many parents and students of a North Gower subdivision, are raising concerns about the safety of the walk their children have to take to the school bus stop.

Last year, about 30 children who attend South Carleton High School were assigned to a coach bus that departs from the Alfred Taylor Recreation Centre in the town core, as opposed to a regular school bus with local stops.

• MORE STORIES: Back to school in Ottawa

To reach the bus, students must walk 2.5 kilometres, much of it down Roger Stevens Drive, an 80 km/h, two-lane road with no sidewalks.

“I haven’t walked this road. It’s pretty dangerous,” says student Lukas Spare, who will be heading into Grade 9 in September. “I don’t think we should have to walk down here, especially in the winter because a car could just slide off the road and hit us.”

His …