Members of the City Commission and School Board met Friday to discuss plans to eventually better plan for traffic near the high school.
At the last City Commission meeting, commissioners received an update on the results of a traffic study by CFS Engineers done on south Eudora.
Three options were provided to aid traffic needs for Church Street near the 23rd Street intersection and the high school.
Traffic around the area has long been discussed, so the city is looking for options to give students and parents better access to the high school as well as those driving around the area at peak times.
The federal RAISE grant will also play into helping these concerns. A citywide traffic study is expected in the near future as part of that process.
The RAISE grant is expected to realign 20th street, add a roundabout at its intersection with Church Street, and another roundabout at 23rd and Church Street.
All the options laid out by the engineering include the extension of South Fir Street to the north.
CFS Engineers posed the following three as possible options to help aid the issues, but ultimately recommended option 1.
Option 1: Extend South Fir Street north and connect to West 20th Street. Construct an additional driveway for Eudora High School with an access point on West 20th Street.
Option 2: Extend South Fir Street north to connect to West 20th Street and extend 23rd Street west to connect with Winchester Road/E2100 Road
Option 3: Extend South Fir Street north to connect to West 20th Street and construct an east-west road, designated as 25th Street, between the middle and high school. The road will connect Church Street and Winchester Road/E2100 Road.
There have been prior conversations about the potential to extend 23rd Street to connect to Winchester, but safety concerns have also been brought up since it would split the middle and high school.
This study took future development like the Shadow Ridge North plan and the city’s comprehensive plan into account, as well as outside factors like Panasonic and the Flint development, Public Works Director Branden Boyd said.
Boyd said the No. 1 priority of these studies is taking safety into account.
Aaron Gaspers with CFS Engineers was also present to discuss options and answer questions. Gaspers said option 1 was recommended due to its slightly lower cost, safety and functionality.
Option 1 would also introduce another access point to the high school, something that has long been an issue at the beginning and end of school with backup on Church Street. It will also connect South Fir Street to 20th Street and give the new subdivision a way to avoid Church Street.
Option 2 and 3 would cost more and be more of a safety concern since it cuts through school property, Gaspers said.
This will come down to a city decision, but having partnership with the district is important, City Manager Kevyn Gero said. The city is open minded about the project and wanted to hear district opinions since it is potentially through their property, she said.
School Board President Mark Chrislip said it sounded like option 1 was the safest. Not only is safety his highest priority, but also the priority of the community, he said.
Board member Joe Hurla agreed the community will likely not support the 23rd Street option due to safety concerns.
Commissioners Alex Curnes and Tim Bruce and Mayor Tim Reazin were there and plan to report back to the rest of the commission at their next meeting.
Bruce asked if there was potential for a hybrid option, to extend 23rd Street to the new development in Shadow Ridge and connect the high school by an access road to 20th Street, as well. Those coming from Church Street could park in the front lot with those coming from Shadow Ridge parking only in the back parking lot.
Reazin agreed with Bruce and said the potential to combine options could be useful, and that he is for the driveway to connect 20th Street to the high school.
Reazin said taking into account growth to the west is important. He also sees the issues with having 23rd Street cutting between the two schools, but saw the pluses of it during the non-busy hours.
Although the road was originally planned by the city to go to Winchester, it may not be what is needed now, he said. Having 23rd Street not go all the way to Winchester addresses the needs of the new development while also meeting school needs, he said.
Boyd said that would create a cut-through for residents to get from the new development through the school and onto 20th street to avoid South Fir Street, and might not be the best option.
More discussion on these possibilities will be discussed at the City Commission meeting on May 13.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected].
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