Upcoming construction project at Trailwood stirs fear among parents

Parents say they are excited about a new school building going up at Trailwood Elementary in Overland Park. But some of them fear the changes that go with the construction will put their kids in danger from the busy traffic on 95^th Street and Roe Avenue.

As workers get ready to raise the construction fences Sept. 30, parents at Trailwood are in a full-on campaign to get a crossing guard, a 25-mph school zone or a bus to make things safer for what they think will be an increase in the number of kids walking to school.

So far they’ve had no luck, but parents vow to keep trying.

Part of the problem has to do with the school’s location on 95th Street near the border of Overland Park and Prairie Village. And part is due to the fact that no one really knows yet how badly construction will snarl traffic.

Trailwood is one of five elementary schools to be rebuilt by the Shawnee Mission district. The new building will go up on the grounds of the current school. Students will continue to attend school in the current building until construction is complete in late 2016 or early 2017.

Once construction begins, the drop-off and pick-up zone will change radically. In past years, many parents parked in a school lot off Rosewood Street and walked up to the school to get their children. When construction starts, the lot will be off limits and drivers will have no choice but to sit in a line of cars inching through a reconfigured pick-up and drop-off line.

“It’s going to be a huge mess,” said Laura Berry of Prairie Village.

Parents were warned of the changes by school officials at the semester’s first gatherings, said Christa Rupp, president of the Trailwood Elementary PTA. Since then, she said, parents have been brainstorming with school officials about ways to make things easier.

A slow drop-off line might motivate more families to walk, Rupp said.

But there are problems with that. For one thing, there’s no crossing guard at the nearby intersection of 95^th Street and Roe Avenue.

Crossing guards are approved and paid for by the cities, not the school district. Prairie Village quit providing the guard in 2011 because of a lack of walkers.

Parents are working on getting the guard reinstated, but have run up against a boundary issue. The southern half of the intersection is in Overland Park and the northern half in Prairie Village.

The Roe Avenue crossing is only two lanes and does not meet the city’s other traffic flow guidelines for a crossing guard, so the city has declined to provide a guard there, said Brian Shields, Overland Park traffic engineer.

Prairie Village is considering whether the intersection will have enough walkers to merit a crossing guard, said Sgt. James Carney. A study on usage should be wrapped up in the next week or two, he said. A crossing guard would be paid for with city money and would cost about $700 a month.

Rupp said foot traffic might increase once construction starts. Parents are already trying to walk more often to promote their children’s health, she said.

It’s a chicken-or-the-egg sort of thing, said Deborah Mower, who lives in Prairie Village about a mile from the school. If the intersection had a crossing guard, many families in the area would use it. But the fast vehicles, hills and blind spots near the intersection make parents uncomfortable letting their kids walk without one.

Mower also said the neighborhood has changed in recent years as more young families move in.

“I am disheartened that what is right for the kids and for their safety and health is just not happening,” said Mower, who has kids in first, fifth and sixth grades at Trailwood. “Does it take a tragedy to make it happen? Why not take proactive steps?”

The fast traffic on 95^th Street in front of the school also is cause for concern. Rupp said she and many parents would like to see a school zone sign with a 25-mph speed limit posted on 95^th Street near the school.

Currently the speed limit is 35 miles an hour and there is a sign indicating students may be crossing, Shields said.

The PTA will start its own campaign to slow traffic on that street, Rupp said. Fliers and yard signs will go up in the area as part of a “Keep Kids Alive. Drive 25” effort, she said.

“We don’t want to be negative toward the district and the school,” she said. “We just want to get the ears of the cities.”

Some parents have explored the idea of paying for a school bus to pick up kids, but there weren’t quite enough riders to make it feasible for the bus company, Berry said.

The expected slow drop-off line will cause a hardship for parents who must choose between driving their kids and getting to work on time, she said. Berry, who has a sixth-grader and a fourth-grader, said she would prefer a bus but “walking is a solution. With a crossing guard it would be a great second choice.”

The school district, meanwhile, will watch closely what happens with the construction, said school spokeswoman Leigh Anne Neal. If the situation merits it, bus service hasn’t been ruled out, she said. As for a crossing guard, “we support whatever action will enhance student safety.”

So parents may have to wait until construction reveals how bad the problem will be.

“It’s a little bit frustrating,” Berry said. “But we all care for the children so we will find a way.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Upcoming construction project at Trailwood stirs fear among parents."