Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Construction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board hears detailed Ramey school site plan and Ash Street safety measures ahead of planning commission review
Summary
Project team presented the Ramey site plan, including two Ash Street connections, crosswalk placements, school-zone signage and options for intersection geometry; the planning commission will review the large-scale development plan Monday and the district expects to return next month with site-work cost estimates.
Project engineers previewed the Ramey school site plan to the Fayetteville Board of Education and said the project will go before the city planning commission for large-scale development review on Monday.
Wes Burgess, the project presenter, said the design calls for two vehicular connections to Ash Street and “two crossings, two crosswalks across Ash” with school-zone signs and flashing markers to slow traffic. He said traffic engineers concluded the safest option is to align the school entrance perpendicular to Ash Street and widen the curve rather than retain the previously discussed three-way stop intersection.
Burgess said city staff asked the team to route the city trail through the site rather than along Ash Street, preserving trees and creating an emergency-only, gated eastern access that the fire department could unlock. He told the board the design also anticipates off-site work the city requested — sidewalk extension and an accessible ramp at the crest of the hill — that will be itemized in the project budget.
On the question of adding stop signs near the crest, a board member pressed for further discussion. Burgess said the planning commission may ask for a right-turn-in/right-turn-out condition or other tweaks, but the team will recommend and can request a stop sign if the city does not object. “We could certainly request that if we think that that would be safer,” he said.
The presentation also covered retaining-wall strategies. Burgess said the team is weighing precast, “ready rock” block walls, gabion baskets and vegetated/stacked-soil wall systems to balance cost, tree preservation and maintenance. He described a site-led cut-and-fill balance that results in a west-side retaining wall approaching 40 feet at its deepest point and said renderings will be supplied to the board to clarify appearance and scale.
Burgess said early site work is being bid now and the team expects to return to the board next month with initial cost estimates. “We’ll be starting to have an understanding of some of the cost by next month,” he said.
Board members stressed safety and urged the team to explore sight-line improvements and crossing placement favored by local planners. The board did not take a vote; the planning commission review is scheduled as the next procedural step.
