School buses getting stuck on icy, narrow roads in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS -- A tight squeeze on slick streets is spelling trouble for some school buses in Minneapolis. In one neighborhood, parents said their kids' bus has gotten stuck nearly 10 times in the past few weeks.

"It's been probably almost 10 times overall where there's been a delay where we have to figure out how to get a parked car moved. One time it was really stuck so they had to get the kids off the bus and get them to school a different way," parent Molly Leutz said.

Leutz and her Tangletown neighbors emailed their councilmember requesting one-sided parking as well as put in many requests to the city's 311 service.

"It's been a couple weeks of steady calling, emailing, and trying to figure out how to be a squeaky wheel," Leutz said.

On Monday, their work paid off as the city posted signs indicating one-sided parking on her block. A street over in the same neighborhood, residents organized amongst themselves to create one-sided parking.

"I get how it's an equity issue and not a one size fits all answer but everybody deserves safe streets to drive on and walk on and live on so it's important people can get through," Rachel Ulfers said.

A City of Minneapolis spokesperson said the city is continuing to address challenging areas. The ice ridges are hard on equipment and it's a slow process, they said.

"We just wanted to support the bus drivers for the most part. They work hard to get our kids to and from school safely and they've just had a really hard time," Leutz said.

Minneapolis Public Schools said it's working with the City of Minneapolis to address the issue of narrow roads.

To request service in your neighborhood, the city encourages residents to utilize 311.