As the school year begins – that means a return to early morning traffic along most of the City of Nicevilleโ€™s roadways.ย 

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Plew Elementary and Niceville High School sit next to John Sims Parkway, Ruckel Middle School and Rocky Bayou Christian School have a school zone on Partin Drive and Edge has a school zone on SR-85.ย 

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Although theย City of Nicevilleย does not operate or otherwise have the ability to change anything aboutย Okaloosa County School Districtย operations – many times the topic of schools or the traffic they generate can come up in city council meetings.ย 

End Traffic - Ride the School Bus

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The traffic before school isnโ€™t a new problem – and has gotten worse over the years, according to Chief David Popwell of the Niceville Police Department.ย 

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โ€œWeโ€™ve [been called] up to the high school numerous times because [cars] block John Sims all the way up to the stoplight. The schools were built before the city evolved. And the city grew up around the schools,โ€ Popwell told the council. โ€œWeโ€™ve tried funneling through the parking lots, and weโ€™ve tried to get different traffic patterns.โ€

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Popwell says there are two options, only one of which he says would be feasible. โ€œThe only other option we have is to go out and write citations to every car parked on [John Sims Parkway], because itโ€™s against state law to stop on a state roadway.โ€ The chiefโ€™s facial expression and the groans and murmurs from the audience made clear that wasn’t an option.ย 

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He says the best opportunity would be to encourage parents to have their kids ride the bus instead of taking them to the schools themselves. โ€œItโ€™s just an unfortunate event that back when schools were built, people rode buses and they walked. Now everybody, and I donโ€™t mean this badly, because I probably did the same thing, but everybody takes their kid to school and drops them off. The roads just werenโ€™t designed for that,โ€ said Popwell.

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NICEVILLE police chief david popwell portrait
Niceville Police Chief David Popwell | November

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