Davis School District outlines traffic, demolition and parking plans for Bountiful Elementary; CTE building advances at Bountiful High

Weston Weeks, a representative of the Davis School District Facilities Department, told the Bountiful City Council at its May 27 work session that the new Bountiful Elementary will open for students in August while the old school is demolished and a play field and permanent access are built.

The district is proposing a temporary drop-off pattern for the 2025–26 school year that would route parent pick-up and drop-off to 200 West and use curbside unloading while the east side of the site remains an active construction and demolition zone. Weeks said the existing building is “gutted” and that demolition will begin within days; he told the council the old building should be removed “in a matter of weeks,” with the new play areas likely not ready until spring.

The traffic plan is temporary, Weeks said, and the long-term pattern will return to a campus circulation designed to keep deliveries and service traffic to a rear access while parent drop-off follows the landscaped front loop. “The new school is — we’re putting furniture in it now so it’ll be open for August,” Weeks said. He also told the council the district will work with the principal on messaging to families and expects to monitor the pattern after school opens and make tweaks as needed.

Council members and city staff pressed for detail on pedestrian access, crossings and fence lines. Gary Lloyd (referred to in the meeting as “Chief” and identified in discussion as the city official overseeing crossing-guard assignments) described the current crossing-guard coverage: a guard handling two legs of the roundabout, another at 50 West and 1500 South, and an existing crossing on 200 West north of the district entrance that has not had a regular guard “for some time.” Lloyd and council members asked the district to coordinate with city public safety to evaluate crossing needs once the school reopens.

Weeks described interim site features: fenced demolition areas, a small courtyard as the available recess space while construction continues, a proposed curb-and-gutter “hatched” area intended to prevent vehicles from cutting across pedestrian space, and an opening in the fence near the tennis courts that the district expects to maintain for pedestrian access. Weeks said the temporary walking surface into the site may be a hardscape or cobble surface and that the district will try to provide a clear path for children arriving by foot.

At Bountiful High, Weeks said construction has moved from field improvements to framing a new CTE building in the former driver’s-education range. The CTE building will house programs such as welding, auto shop and business classes; it is in active construction, and the district lost roughly “about a hundred stalls-ish” of parking during work, Weeks said. The district plans to remove the current CTE building in a later phase and regain those spaces once the project advances.

Council members raised concerns about student overflow parking, neighborhood impacts and use of nearby church parking. Weeks said the district sometimes restricts parking permits (for example, limiting sophomore permits) to manage campus parking and that Clearfield and other district schools have used neighborhood or adjacent park parking agreements; he acknowledged Bountiful’s park is a promise not to use the park as permanent overflow and said the district has heard resident complaints but had not seen ongoing major problems during the most recent construction phase.

Council members also asked about communication to nearby neighbors during demolition. Weeks said the district typically relies on contractors to distribute flyers, door-knock and perform dust-control measures mandated by state regulations, adding contractors have sometimes augmented watering and dust suppression where neighbors raised concerns.

Discussion points recorded at the session included safety at drop-off and post-drop-off on adjacent arterial streets; potential temporary access from 50 West into the site; the need for a clear point of contact for neighbors; and the district’s plan to evaluate the new circulation pattern shortly after school opens. Weeks estimated there will be “three or so” school employees on duty for drop-off, not a larger dedicated staff, and said the district will work with school administration and the city to review parking-permit approaches and crossing-guard needs.

Council members thanked Weeks for the update and asked staff to coordinate further with the district on messaging, crossing-guard evaluation and any temporary traffic controls if monitoring shows they are needed.