Although transportation directors in rural school districts such as School Administrative District 6 are required to make tough choices while facing frequent taxpayer criticism, it should be an easy choice for SAD 6 Transportation Director Steve Lambert to add a bus stop for Bonny Eagle middle and high school students along Route 11 in Steep Falls.

Lambert oversees a network of 6,000 miles of roads traveled by district buses and has rightly looked to consolidate stops throughout the district. The decision to eliminate two of three stops for students on the stretch of Route 11 from the Limington town line to the intersection with Route 113 in Steep Falls was too drastic.

Since school began, parents of more than a dozen students have asked SAD 6 officials to reduce the near half-mile walk their children make to the bus stop.

It is not the distance of the walk they are unhappy about. It is because a high level of truck traffic and drivers with little regard for the posted 25 mph speed limit on a narrow stretch of road make the walk unnecessarily treacherous. Those hazards will only increase with shorter daylight hours and snow banks that would eliminate walking space.

Lambert has referred complaints to SAD 6 Assistant Superintendent Rick Matthews, who said district officials would reconsider the wisdom of having one stop as the winter sets in, but waiting until winter means one driver in poor weather could create a tragedy.

Lambert also suggested shifting the current pickup and drop-off site off the road to a parking lot, but the suggestion misses the point, as it is getting to the stop that is the problem in the eyes of parents and students.

A photograph in our story shows students walking on the wrong side of the road as a car passes. Certainly, the students need to obey the laws as drivers must, but the photograph also reinforces how narrow the road is in that area and why adding one stop now is a good idea. It is a safe choice and hardly a budget buster.

Welcome back

Readers will notice the return of Marcia Blanchard as author of the “Inside Windham” column. In her introduction, she details her near-fatal bout with pneumonia, and thanks those who provided support as she recovered.

All that can be added here is that it is a delight to have her back with the Lakes Region Weekly because her grasp of what is happening in town is invaluable and her good cheer as a person is always heartening.

I also want to thank Kay Soldier for writing the column these last four months. No less rooted in Windham, Soldier wrote “Inside Windham” while writing “The Good Word” and “Especially for Seniors” and compiling “Lakes Region Memories” and obituaries for all of Current Publishing’s newspapers. That is a heavy load even for someone who is not “retired” as Soldier claims to be, and one I am grateful she continues to shoulder.

David Harry, editor