FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) -- Parents of Clemmons Middle School students are waiting for over an hour to pick up their kids.
The traffic lines for pick-up stretch both ways down Stratford Road.
"I leave work to come pick them up, I'm gone for two hours," said Shawnda Brooks, a parent.
Some parents picking up kids from the elementary school next door say they wait even longer.
Traffic is coming in from three different roads and merging into one driveway.
Some blame the traffic circle just before the entrance to the school.
Other parents suspect an uptick in people choosing cars over buses could be from COVID.
Neighbors in the area say it has always been this bad.
"It's awful," David Robertson said. "It's not as bad in the mornings as in the evening, but after 7:30 in the morning it's a parking lot."
Steve and Lisa Loos live off a long gravel driveway right next to the school's entrance.
They say their driveway is blocked at the same time almost daily.
"It's about a 10-minute drive from here to the hospital I work at and I would either leave work early or just stay late and work extra to avoid sitting in the traffic on Stratford for 45 minutes," Lisa Loos said.
The Loos tell FOX8 they've contacted the police and told them their concerns, and law enforcement told them there isn't anything they can do.
"I know a lot of these parents would be upset if there was a school in their neighborhood and they couldn't get in and out of their homes," Robertson said.
Robertson has lived on Fraternity Church Road his entire life. He believes the traffic has gotten worse by the school over the past few years.
Roberson and the Loos are also worried about their older neighbors if there is an emergency.
"EMS comes down this way a lot, and there's no way an EMS could get through this," Steve Loos said.
Officials with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools tell FOX8 they're asking for parents' patience in the first couple weeks of school.
They also say this is the first time in a long time everyone is back in person, and it will take some time to solve traffic pattern problems.
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