BROKEN ARROW - The city is playing catch-up with the school district to try to make sure streets can handle heavier traffic flow caused by the opening of five new schools.
Broken Arrow Public Schools opened five schools at three sites this year. Creekwood Elementary School and Creekwood Early Childhood Center are on Albany Street east of Lynn Lane Road, and Aspen Creek Elementary School and Aspen Creek Early Childhood Center are on Florence Street between Olive Street and Aspen Avenue.
Oneta Ridge Middle School is on Oneta Road north of 91st Street.
"We experienced quite a bit of traffic congestion in places that we weren't used to having traffic," Kenneth Schwab, director of engineering and construction, told city councilors this week.
Michelle Bergwall, chief operating officer for the school district, acknowledged that the district's new administration threw the city "curveballs" with some sites when they realigned their bond projects through an October 2011 election.
"That was all after the city passed their last bond, and we all know that bond dollars build roads," Bergwall said.
The city's last bond proposal was passed in April 2011, and street projects took into consideration the school district's plan from 2009.
But Bergwall said some unexpected factors, such as the opportunity to buy land at a good price, allowed the district to build schools in better and more appropriate locations.
Now the city is looking to widen Albany and Florence streets to accommodate the extra traffic from about 1,000 students in each location.
The one-mile stretch of Albany from Lynn Lane Road to County Line Road is three lanes wide. Schwab said the city is widening it to five lanes, with design for the project having begun in July and construction expected to begin in the spring if funding is secured.
The design phase will include an analysis of the effectiveness of traffic signals at 12th Place and 12th Street.
The city already had plans to widen Lynn Lane Road from the Broken Arrow Expressway to Albany Street, and Schwab said the Albany widening should be tied to that project. Construction on the Lynn Lane Road widening project is expected to begin in January.
Florence Street is a two-lane street, and Schwab told the council there will be consideration to widen it to either three or five lanes between Olive and Aspen. He said design on that project is expected to begin by next month, with construction to begin in late spring or early summer if funding is secured.
City Councilor Mike Lester asked whether money that was allocated for other streets would be redirected to these projects, but Schwab said the city is still considering funding mechanisms.
"Right now we're looking at any kind of impact" on other streets, Schwab said.
Bergwall reminded councilors that traffic is always worse during the first couple of weeks of school as parents and bus drivers get used to dropoff and pickup procedures. She and Schwab said traffic flow is already showing significant improvement at all sites.
The school district also took traffic into consideration when designing its new sites. The elementary schools have bigger "loops" to accommodate more cars, to minimize backup on city streets. And the sites also were designed with separate loops for buses and cars.
Schwab and Bergwall also said there has been a good partnership between the city and school district.
Councilor Johnnie Parks, who said he received several complaints about the increased traffic, said he appreciates the communication between the district and city staff but encouraged that the communication be improved further to make sure future projects align better.
Nour Habib 918-581-8369
nour.habib@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: New BA schools bring traffic jams
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