Managing traffic around Gainesville's growing schools is a concern for both the city school board and the city council.
The two government bodies met Monday night in a joint session and one of the main topics of discussion was how to alleviate traffic around two schools in particular - Enota Elementary and Centennial Elementary.
Both schools are scheduled for major construction projects in the near future. Enota will be completely rebuilt, while Centennial will get a 36-room, two-story addition to replace current modular buildings - or "learning cottages" - as Gainesville City School Superintendent Wanda Creel called them.
The traffic issue around Centennial, which sits on the same campus as the Ninth Grade Center and Gainesville High School, may be the easier problem to solve. Adrian Niles, Director of Maintenance and Operations for Gainesville City Schools, said he and Gainesville Public Works Director David Dockery had already discussed collaborating on a traffic survey for the campus. But, said Niles, the more pressing issue is finding a traffic exit while construction takes place behind the school. An existing exit road will have to be closed, according to Niles.
"Years ago, there used to be a road that went all the way down to Chestatee," said Niles. "We want to make a formal request during construction to open that road back up to right-turn only traffic. We would look at having a police officer there also to help with traffic."
Gainesville Mayor Danny Dunagan said he recalled the road was closed by the city because of a dangerous curve.
Niles said Dockery would bring the request before city council members for consideration in the near future.
Meanwhile, solving the traffic dilemma around Enota Elementary School will be a more time-consuming project.
The idea of a mini-bypass for Enota Avenue, which is jammed with traffic at either end of each school day, has been discussed for years. Both Creel and Niles expressed concern about how the road might impact the school, but Dunagan assured them the road was far from a done deal.
City Manager Bryan Lackey brought a diagram and map to show the school board members where the road might be built.
"I can assure that city council will not do anything to jeopardize the school," said Dunagan. "This thing [the road] is just proposed. We have applied for a grant to do the engineering study...it has not been planned where this road is going to go."
City Councilman Sam Couvillon said the possibility of a road behind Enota Elementary concerns not just school officials, but also residents who live in the Cumberland Valley Road area.
"We're just trying to figure out what the possibilities are," said Couvillon. "It's not going to be an easy decision." He suggested there might be several alternatives to the plan once the engineering study is complete.
As far as a timetable for getting the grant money for the study, Lackey said that ball was in the state's court, and he was unsure when a decision would come.
Nile said with or without a resolution about the road, construction of Enota would move forward.
Council, school board will hold regular joint meetings in the future
City council and school board members decided that the Monday night meeting was beneficial and determined they would meet at least two times per year. Additional joint meetings could be scheduled as needed. There was no firm date set for the next meeting, although both groups said they would prefer to meet right after the end of the school year.
