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Piedmont board hears traffic concerns and construction plan for new elementary site
Summary
A resident urged a traffic study for the planned Washington Avenue elementary; district presenters showed site plans that include stacked car lanes for up to about 100 vehicles, bus lanes and on-site utilities to limit off-site work.
A Piedmont parent and resident raised traffic-safety concerns about the district’s planned new elementary school on Washington Avenue, and district construction representatives presented site plans during the board meeting.
Jonathan Heizer said he spoke “as a parent, resident, property earning owner in the school district.” He told the board the section where the new elementary is proposed will include heavy housing growth and that “Washington Avenue at the proposed school location has an average daily traffic count of 3,000 vehicles per day,” citing data from ODOT and ACOG. He asked the district to fund a comprehensive traffic study and to coordinate with Oklahoma City on street improvements; he said Oklahoma City Council member Bradley Carter is planning a bond package and could be raised as part of that discussion.
Construction presenters Jacob Wingo and Sean Wilkes described the new elementary site as a roughly 42-acre property and showed a planned layout that preserves the building orientation used on the previous site while adding stacked on-site car lanes. Wingo told the board that the plan can “get a hundred cars stacked, on-site,” and that the design includes a third lane for buses and additional on-site stacking so buses and cars can be separated during drop-off and pick-up.
Presenters said the chosen location reduces utility extension costs because sewer and water are available along the property’s west and northwest edges, which avoids bringing mains long distances that had been required at an earlier site. They also flagged a floodplain area that will require a flood study and prevent building inside that zone.
Timeline and operational notes presented to the board included ongoing earthwork and expected start of foundations in the coming month, with storm-shelter work sequenced after demolition of an existing road. Board members and staff discussed how the larger on-site stacking capacity should mitigate but not completely eliminate vehicle queues onto public roads, and they said the plan will free congestion at other schools once the new campus opens.
No formal action was taken on the traffic-study request at the meeting; the presenters said they are coordinating with city public works and traffic engineers and will continue those conversations.
