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Steering committee questions parking, parent drop‑off and bus circulation in Easton Area SD site plan
Summary
Designers showed site phasing that relocates varsity fields and tennis courts, and a bus layout that accommodates up to 70 buses; board members raised concerns about lost parking, one‑lane entry, pedestrian crossings and the need to verify exact parking counts.
Designers presented a two‑phase site plan for the Easton Area SD high school project that relocates varsity baseball and softball fields to synthetic turf, moves tennis courts, and establishes a multi‑lane parent drop‑off loop and a Chevron bus layout the team said can handle up to 70 buses at the school’s front entrance. Steering‑committee members and other board participants raised questions about parking capacity and traffic operations, especially parent drop‑off circulation and a single inbound lane near 20 Fifth Street.
On the site plan, the team identified work in two phases. Phase 1 includes the varsity baseball relocation to a new turf field, varsity softball relocation to turf, relocation of tennis courts, some stormwater and utility rework and grading; the team said the JV baseball field would be sited on a grass field near the south parking edge. Designers said the phase‑1 base bid would include dugouts, bullpens, covered seating, fencing and retaining‑wall work. The design team also said the area adjacent to the marching‑band practice field was shown for a bonfire at the township’s request.
Board members asked about parking counts and access to nearby lots. A designer (speaker 1) said the team planned to retain two campus lots and street parking but did not have a final count at the presentation; one participant recalled having counted “about 120” spots in a specific lot (speaker 7). Designers said current total on‑site parking figures are approximately 943 spaces existing on the site, and that the team’s tally excluding bus areas was about 930; they said phase 1 would remove some spaces but that adding newly striped bus parking (also usable by cars when not used by buses) would add roughly 350 spaces and bring the eventual total to about 1,280 cars. The team said it would verify exact counts and confirm compliance with handicap and other standards before final design.
Participants discussed informal overflow arrangements with the office plaza behind the school and the possibility of using on‑street parking on Hartley (checking with Palmer Township for permission). Designers noted that one tier of lot parking sits close to fields and may be underused for building access, and that the second phase would add parking adjacent to the track to serve field events.
Traffic and circulation points drew extended discussion. The design shows two lanes in the parent drop‑off loop so parents can pull to the curb in the near lane while the inner lane continues the flow; designers said the throat from 20 Fifth Street would be elongated, providing stacking capacity (they estimated stacking for about 30 cars when fully used). Still, several board members expressed concern that there is effectively “one lane in and one lane out” once vehicles merge past the intersection and that backups on 20 Fifth Street could create conflicts. The team said a traffic consultant will perform a detailed review once the design is sufficiently developed and will make recommendations on flow operations and any intersection changes that would require PennDOT review.
Pedestrian crossings and student safety were also discussed. Designers described planned crosswalks at the main entry and noted the township’s interest in protecting a bike path between the school site and the adjacent Walgreens; landscaping placement and potential low fencing were proposed as deterrents to unsafe crossings. The team said security views would include a security office at the athletics entrance in addition to the main front-desk security zone.
Designers and committee members agreed to verify parking counts, confirm handicap compliance, check with Palmer Township about on‑street parking permissions, and have the traffic consultant analyze ingress/egress and stacking capacity before final approvals. No formal vote or change to the plan was recorded at the meeting.
Less critical details: JV baseball will be sited on an existing grass area; a bonfire area was added at the township’s request; tennis court relocation and retaining‑wall rework were shown as part of phase 1.
