Will New IKEA Be Too Close to Forest Ridge Elementary?

OAK CREEK - The joint Oak Creek-Franklin school district's newest school, Forest Ridge Elementary, is scheduled to open in Fall 2016.

Some parents are worried about what will happen when their neighbors move in during 2018.

Those neighbors would happen to be the 295,000 square foot IKEA, and parents are wondering if the traffic will be too much for the area.

The distance between the two is roughly a quarter-mile. The city said they'll widen the road they will share. They're also going to put up a $25,000 security fence around the school.

But according to a Channel 12 report, even with the modifications, the space between the two is still too close for comfort for some parents, like Greg Loreck, sending their kids to school down the road.

"A lot of parents believed that area was going to be built up with residential neighborhoods,” Loreck said to WISN 12.

“In the morning, traffic won’t be an issue. But (pick-up) in the afternoon might be an issue, with traffic coming and going from the store,” Loreck said.