North Adams Traffic Commission Reviewing Safe Routes at New School
 Colegrove Park Elementary School will have two traffic loops, one for buses and one for parents picking up. The Traffic Commission is determining signage and route recommendations for the school's opening. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The newly reconstituted Traffic Commission's first priority is to recommend a walking and driving safety plan for the soon-to-open Colegrove Park Elementary School.
A major change could be the elimination of the long crosswalk across Church Street in front of the library to detour young walkers to the much shorter and safer one at Summer Street.
The downtown building, once a high school and later a middle school, will open for the school year in September with a new set of traffic concerns — about 310 elementary children being bused, driven or walking to and from it each weekday.
The new commission is comprised of Amanda Chilson, City Councilor Nancy Bullett, Director of Public Works Paul Markland, police Lt. David Sacco, Steven Rondeau and Traffic Clerk Mary Ann King. A seventh member has yet to be appointed.
They met for the first time Monday with Mayor Richard Alcombright, Superintendent of School James Montepare, Police Director Michael Cozzaglio and representatives from Fuss & O'Neill, an engineering firm hired to do the traffic study for the Colegrove project.
The main areas for discussion were crossing areas, bus and parent dropoffs and pickups, general traffic, sidewalks and signage, particularly within the boundaries of the intersections of East Main Street with Pleasant, Miner and Church streets.
Cozzaglio noted that speed limits for school zones are set by state law at 20 mph during times specified by the muncipality. The commission would have to recommend where such signage would be placed, probably at the East Main intersections, to warn motorists of the school.
"The school is kind of surrounded by corners, it's kind of tricky getting there," he said, recommending "some kind of bright, grab-your-attention signs."
The mayor agreed, saying, "we have to be loud and clear that you're entering a school zone."
Jon Dietrich, an associate at Fuss & O'Neill, said his firm had not been involved in the street signage but would like to be and provided some graphics of possible signage, including for pedestrians.
Dietrich said it was estimated that between 25 percent and 30 percent of children will be walkers or parent dropoffs, based on data from Sullivan School. Despite a larger number of students, "I'm not sure there's going to be a whole lot of difference," he said.
King recommended three to four crossing guards, one each at the three-way intersection east of the school, at the school and at least one at Summer and Church, with another possibly at the Cliff and Union street intersections.
Montepare said his staff is currently working on overlays to determine bus routes and potential walkers. There will be redistricting to take into account Colegrove's increased capacity over Sullivan and its handicapped accessibility. The after-school program will likely mean about 30 percent of the children will be staying on into the afternoon, he said, somewhat ameliorating the traffic situation.
He figured that most walkers would come from the residential areas south of the school, and possibly from steep East Main Street.
"We would probably have a mechanism to pick up kids during the winter who are walking down the hill," he said. But, most likely, he said, many of the children who fall in the walking category would be driven to and from school by parents.
Cozzaglio said the hill should be kept in mind during traffic discussions: "We may be surprised at the number of walkers."
Chilson, coordinator of the state's Mass in Motion program in North Berkshire, said promoting "walking school buses" was another option to encourage parents to walk, not drive, their kids to school.
Children and volunteers would start out on a schedule, picking up more walkers as they went along.
"So now you have a group of children and a few parent volunteers walking with the students," she said. "That's something I'd like to promote. We talk about safety in numbers."
The school's main entrance on East Main Street will have two vehicular traffic loops — one closest to the school for the four to five buses and a second with spots for up to 20 cars.
Sacco was concerned that parent traffic would start stacking up along East Main Street, which had occurred when Conte Middle School was open.
"We have to expect that to happen ... It's probably not going to be enough to get all the parents in the loop," he said, adding that parents at Sullivan had gotten into the habit of meeting their children in the lobby, thus blocking traffic in the bottle-neck driveway with unattended cars.
Commissioners agreed that clear signage, and education and enforcement especially in the beginning of the year, will be a priority.
"We're going to have to have some enforcement right off the bat ... people are going to line up in what's most convenient for them," the mayor said.
Cozzaglio said the department's school resource officer could help, and agreed a couple cruisers could be on hand for the school's opening and closing in the first days.
Chilson asked that large maps be available for the next meeting so commissioners can discuss sign placements and walking routes. Markland said he would also review areas of concern in plowing and snow removal.
"You're not going to go out there the first day and have everything work terrific, you're not going to go out there the first two weeks and have everything work terrific," Dietrich said. "But if you have a plan it will fall in place and what you're going to do is you're going to modify it."
Tags: Colegrove Park, Conte School, pedestrians, public safety, school bus, traffic commission,
