MCHS students from Holiday Hills have been walking across the neighborhood because of a sewer system installation. Since September, buses refuse to go inside the neighborhood.

The sewer system installation plans to go on for another five years, and it is not just causing problems for the students, but also affects the residents in Holiday Hills who are having a hard time navigating their own neighborhoods. The Illinois Department of Safety is getting involved with the district’s transportation department.

“The Department of Safety says that it is cruel,” said student at MCHS Joseph Vuglar, “and it is not safe for these kids to walk 20 minutes to their houses while the truck driver’s aren’t watching.”

“It is a 20 minute walk to my house,” adds Vuglar, “The construction is at the front of the neighborhood, the neighborhood next door has opened up its fences so we can walk through.”

The sewer system installation has caused its own problems for Holiday Hill’s residents in addition to the issues it has caused to MCHS students.

“A challenge is that the construction has caused disruption in our water,” said MCHS parent Kim Vuglar. “Our water pressure at times will be very low or we will have no water at all, it also causes discoloration.”

While the installation goes on the roads are getting covered by construction. Buses have to go down these roads and that is why they won’t go into the neighborhood.

“The sewer project has delayed me from getting to work,” Kim added. “I have been on time only a few times.”

 “My backyard neighbor was blocked from leaving her driveway when they worked on her street last week,” she adds.

Currently the buses are still parking outside of the neighborhood causing students to still walk across the neighborhood, and this is still disrupting the water while the installation goes on.