Road work prompts temporary changes to parking at Park High School

By BRENT KILLACKEY
Journal Times

Sunday, September 2, 2007 5:34 PM CDT

RACINE — The first week of school will be a bit more complicated for Park High School.

Construction of a modified traffic circle at the intersection of Bluefields Drive, Valley Drive and 13th Street just southeast of the school fell behind schedule because of unexpected soil conditions and heavy rains, according to John Rooney, Racine’s assistant commissioner of public works and engineering.

A project that was supposed to be finished in time for Tuesday’s first day of classes will run one week into the school year — creating some inconveniences for students and staff, Rooney said.

The remaining roadwork, which includes laying asphalt, will cut off access to the intersection and to Bluefields Drive, which normally allows staff and students to access nearly 70 parking spots.

Work continues on the traffic oval being constructed near Park High School Friday afternoon. Unexpected soil conditions and recent rains have delayed the project by about a week, keeping the project from being finished before the start of school. The Department of Public Works made arrangements to temporarily remove parking restrictions and put up stop signs to make sure school buses can get to the school. School starts Tuesday. Photo by Gregory Shaver, Journal Times.

Parking restrictions on certain streets will be lifted temporarily to ease the construction-related parking crunch:

* The north side of 12th Street adjacent to the school.

* The east side of Valley Drive adjacent to the school.

* Woodland Avenue between Valley Drive and Bluff Avenue.

* A portion of Linden Avenue near 12th Street.

“We are going to bag those (parking restriction) signs and we are going to lift those restrictions so students and teachers can park on those portions of the streets all day long during school hours,” Rooney said.

Parking restrictions on the south side of 12th Street and west side of Valley Drive will remain in effect to allow buses to drop off and pick up students, Rooney said.

Adding to transportation complexities around the school, the newly paved road surface on 12th Street won’t be ready for traffic until sometime later this week.

To accommodate bus traffic on neighboring streets, temporary four-way stop signs will be installed at the intersection of 13th Street and Bluff Street and 12th Street and South Memorial Drive, Rooney said.

When work on the Bluefields Drive, Valley Drive and 13th Street intersection is completed later this week, the complicated triangular intersection will be replaced by an oval-about, something similar to what’s being installed at the State Highway 38 and County Highway K intersection.

City transportation officials used roundabout design principles to address poor safety conditions at the existing intersection. It has been the site of a high number of crashes compared to other city intersections.

Special Offer: Get 5 Weeks of the Journal Times for $7!