District 21 traffic study recommends reconfigured lot layouts, protected lanes and village coordination for several schools

District 21 officials presented a multi-phase parking lot and school safety assessment Thursday that recommends several site-specific changes to reduce roadway queuing and improve pedestrian safety.

The district hired Kimley-Horn to observe arrival and dismissal at multiple schools and propose improvements; Phase 1 sites (Tarleton, Field, Whitman, Frost) have had recommendations implemented and are being monitored, while Phase 2 (London, Twain, Kilmer, Longfellow) produced more extensive proposals.

"The purpose of this assessment is basically to improve that process as much as possible, reduce the congestion, and increase student, family safety," said Danny Mallick, director of safety and security, who presented the study details. Mallick described a mix of short-term operational fixes and longer-term projects that may require outside approvals.

At Kilmer the study recommended reconfiguring parallel stalls to angled spaces to add seven parking spaces, removing a small pavement area used informally as a drop-off zone, and working with Buffalo Grove police on curbside parking restrictions at Gulf View and Terrace to reduce uncontrolled crossings.

At Twain consultants recommended flipping the vehicle entry to the larger north side, separating bus and car circulation and increasing staffed crossing points to prevent buses from being trapped behind car queues.

London, where the district had installed a temporary protected car lane and retractable barriers after a reported parking-lot pedestrian strike incident, has seen improved flow. The consultant proposed exploring a permanent, protected bus lane around the school perimeter. Mallick warned that such a permanent lane would be a larger engineering project, require Illinois Department of Transportation and other approvals, and not be ready over a single summer.

Longfellow and other schools near arterial roads face similar constraints. The district said some solutions are short-term (signage, striping and temporary barriers) while others require engineering, parent engagement and county or municipal approvals for roadway restrictions or flipped entry/exit patterns.

Board members asked about crossing guards, right-turn-only exits, and enforcement; Mallick said the consultant specifically recommended a crossing guard at one Kilmer crossing and that he would coordinate next steps with Buffalo Grove, Cook County and IDOT as required. The district plans to continue site-level tweaks over the summer and monitor effectiveness in the coming school year.

Speakers at the meeting emphasized that the assessments involved building administrators and on-site staff input during kickoff meetings and field observations. The district said Phase 3 (Riley, Poe, Holmes, Hawthorne) will be completed next school year to evaluate all elementary and middle sites.

"We completed the full assessment process with Kimley Horn," Mallick said, and the district is preparing preliminary implementation plans for Phase 2 sites.

No formal board vote was taken on design changes Thursday; some action items (curb restrictions) will require village or county approval before implementation.