I just received an email from the Waban Improvement Society saying that the new Angier School will no longer allow “live pick-ups” in the lane in front of the school at dismissal time. Instead parents picking up kids are asked to park on the surrounding streets and walk their kids from the school to their cars.
Do any of you traffic-heads know the background of this change in policy. It sounds like a suggestion I remember hearing during the proposed Zervas parking discussion.
“… Families who have previously picked up students in their vehicles via the lane in front of the school will be asked to park on the neighborhood streets near Angier and walk to pick up their student(s). This change will allow transportation vehicles to safely enter and exit the lanes in front of the school and will also increase the safety of all students as they leave Angier each day … “
Williams School implemented this change this year, too. No more blue zone drop offs and pick ups. Instead, there is a little cut-out that can fit two cars for a quick drop off. Other than that, they ask people to drop kids off in the back or to park and walk.
Both changes at Williams and Angier were done to accommodate a safe and timely pick up of students by bus. In the case of Angier, the buses and vans with special needs students were being block for long periods of times by parents cued up to pick up. A discussion at the Safe Routes to School meeting last Friday, suggests that the principal and NPS did a great job with parent communication on this change. In the case of Williams changing the bus drop off lane back into the bus drop off lane allowed the bus to pull off busy Grove and drop students at the school. This is better for the students and better for vehicles on Grove that apparently frequently passed the stopped school bus (illegal when the red lights are flashing).
The unintended consequence of building the mega elementary school, is the obvious traffic jamb that such a big school generates. When will we recognize the huge mistake that Teddy Mann made in eliminating and selling off the walkable schools that put Newton on the map for academic excellence. It’s time to begin to once again downsize / localize our schools and recover the reputation for excellence we used to enjoy.
It’s great policy. It puts priority where it belongs: safety over convenience, and shared transportation and walking over private vehicles.
We’ve known for some time that blue zone at dismissal generally does not work well, especially as school populations increase. Parents tend to arrive early and form a long queue, idling, backing up into traffic lanes, creating conflicts and, in some situations, gridlock. By eliminating the queue in front of school and spreading vehicles a bit further out, there’s less congestion, the school zone is safer, and kids get to walk a little more than they otherwise would. Some parents may choose to just leave the car at home or meet their kids somewhere in between.
As we’ve committed ourselves now to fewer and more centralized schools that put walking out of reach for some students, it makes a stronger case for building safe bike routes to school that allow students and parents a safe, efficient and healthy transportation choice.
I’ve heard from many parents who say they’d love to see their kids off to school on a bike, if only it were safe to do so. Let’s make it so.
@ Nathan,… Bicycling for a kindergartner, 1st, 2nd, 3rd grader ? A ” safe efficient and healthy transportation choice “,… ??? In the snow,… ??? In the rain???
It’s time to get real and address the issue. The mega school doesn’t work !
Blueprintbill,
On the topic of rain and snow. I bet a lot of those elementary school kids ski and do other activities in inclement weather. If they don’t, maybe they need more outdoor activity in less than perfect weather. We live in New England. We should adapt to the weather, no hide from it.
Bill, what about 4th and 5th graders? What about 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders? What about Copenhagen, Montreal, Davis, Boulder, Corvallis, Stockholm?
Are you suggesting we decentralize the new schools we’ve just built out? Yes, its definitely time to “get real”
Oh sure ,… and let’s build more housing , increase the school population, and add more cars to increase the traffic problems.
We are making the same huge mistake in reverse, that Teddy Mann made in reducing the number of schools, by today making the centralized mega school.
Have you ever been to Copenhagen or Amsterdam ? ( And Stockholm ?,.. Bicycles ?)
The reason bicycles have proliferated there is that that geography is flat as a pancake and they don’t get anywhere near the snow we do.
You don’t build here in emulation of some idealized pipe dream. It’s New England, where the roadways are built on cow paths.
Blueprintbill,
A common misperception is that bicycle-friendly communities are naturally bike-friendly and have always been. The experience in Europe says that’s not true. Lots of now bicycle-friendly communities were very auto-centric to begin with, especially in Germany. And, not all good bike cities are flat with a mild climate.
Interesting about how the old schools closed, Bill. I live very close to a building that used to be an elementary school and I often think of how much easier it would be for my neighborhood if it was still in use as a school. Instead, I’m 0.8 miles away from our school – and it’s not even a buffer zone. We walk to school most days (unless the weather is very bad) because we enjoy the exercise, but this might not be a realistic option for families where both parents work out of the home because it does take about an hour and a half out of my day. I also hate hate hate the Blue Zone and avoid it at all costs.
As for biking to school, I’m not a helicopter parent by any means, but I’m way too nervous for that! Sometimes I feel like I’m risking our lives walking to school. There’s a four-way-stop on our way to school that people will zip right through. The other morning I counted 5 people who ran the stop sign as I approached the intersection. I’d feel even more worried sending my kids to school by bike unsupervised until they’re in middle school.
Mary, I am totally with you on the lack of safety for walking or biking. Other cities have made things safe – Newton can, too.
Agreed. There are a lot of smaller steps that I believe Newton could take to make biking and walking safer in general, but specifically in regards to school routes! And if some schools are eliminating blue zones, now could be a good time for people (like me!) to get involved with Safe Routes and traffic committee meetings.