BELLVILLE — The Clear Fork School Board announced plans for School Street in Bellville.
Representatives from KEM and Garmin Miller, the architectural firm for the new elementary buildings in Clear Fork, outlined the current plan for school board members on Feb. 9. The proposal calls for cutting down the rise on the street by one-and- a-half-to-two feet over a 300-to-400 foot section. The cost to the school district is expected to reach $300,000.
The street would be closed for up to two months sometime in 2018. The current project would likely limit vehicles exiting the school to right-turns only.
The district considered four different proposals aimed at a line-of- sight problem in front of the Bellville Elementary School along with ways to reduce traffic-flow issues at the school.
On Jan. 18, Bellville Council members listened as engineers suggested ways to alleviate traffic issues.
Bellville Mayor Teri Brenkus said she is looking forward to working with the school district as it moves forward on the Bellville School. She also expressed relief that the district has “moved away from closing the street.”
Brenkus said there were safety and traffic flow concerns raised by residents and businesses in the area. The mayor said one fire department official raised concerns over fire fighting access to that neighborhood if the street were to be closed.
Preparations for both the Bellville and Butler schools are making progress, according to Chad Stivers of Gilbane Building Company. He indicated the Butler location is slightly farther along in the planning process. That school is not faced with the same surface street issues.
Stivers said he believes the Butler school will come in at the $13 million budget. Bellville’s cost estimates are expected to be available soon.
School board members say they are hoping to have groundbreaking ceremonies for both locations either at the end of this school year, or at the beginning of the next.
K.E. McCartney and Associates (KEM) of Mansfield outlined ways to improve School Street or redirect traffic onto Hines Avenue. One option included closing part of the street altogether.
The traffic problem is due to a hill in front of the elementary school that creates an “intersection sight distance” problem. During drop off and pick up times at the school as many as 87 vehicles converge at the location, according to Superintendent Janice Wyckoff.
The new school project is trying to address that situation through planned access from School Street.
