“No significant operational issues were observed” in a traffic study for the Bermudian Springs School District (BSSD) campus, officials said.
Bermudian Superintendent Shane Hotchkiss said Huntington Township requested a traffic evaluation be completed after building the new $33 million middle school. Students first attended classes in the new 140,000-square-foot building last January.
Grove Miller Engineering Inc., of Harrisburg, completed the campus traffic evaluation in December, and Hotchkiss presented the recommendations at the school board’s recent caucus meeting.
Traffic counts were observed at the following locations: Pa. Route 94 and Main Campus Driveway, Main Campus Drive and Middle School Driveway, Baltimore Road and Main Campus Drive, Baltimore Road and Elementary School Driveway, and Baltimore Road and Middle School Lane, Hotchkiss said.
The counts were conducted during the weekday morning school arrival time between 6:30 to 9 a.m. and afternoon departure from 2 to 4 p.m., according to the study.
There were “no significant operational issues observed,” the study reads.
Grove Miller Engineering wrote that most of the traffic on Pa. Route 94 slowed down from the 55-mph speed limit when the school zone speed limit flashers were on, which improved “traffic operations and safety” at the Pa. Route 94 and Main Campus Drive intersection, according to the study.
For less than five minutes, Pa. Route 94 was backed up by approximately six to eight cars “for brief stretches,” but “the back-up dissipated quickly and did not impact traffic on” the road, the study found.
The study indicated “existing signs, traffic controls, and traffic flow plans” for bus and parent drop-off “are well designed to facilitate the movement of traffic around campus with minimal conflicts” during morning and afternoon times observed.
Hotchkiss shared the recommendations from the traffic study including potentially coning off the first aisle near the administration office, since that can lead to a traffic back-up during the morning arrival time period.
Another recommendation entailed adding a stop bar “in the parking lot along the sidewalk between the high school and parking lot to indicate the beginning point for vehicles in the parent pick-up line,” for the afternoon departure, the study reads.
In an effort to ensure parents pull up in the pick-up line and form a continuous line, the study shares an option of having a staff member present at departure times to help.
“It is possible that if this was performed by staff for the first few weeks of the school year it would become a habit and the presence of the staff member would no longer be necessary,” the study reads.
The district could put up a sign for traffic in the “parent pick-up line with similar instructions,” according to the study.
“I think it’s a very reasonable recommendation,” Hotchkiss said.
Hotchkiss said he plans to reach out to Huntington Township officials to offer the same presentation on the study and recommendations.
