Residents press council over traffic, safety and fire-access at proposed Louisa May Alcott school site

Dozens of residents at Mapleton’s public forum urged the City Council to slow or reconsider the proposed Louisa May Alcott community school site, saying the neighborhood lacks sidewalks, safe crossings and reliable emergency access for a school expected to serve roughly 520 students.

“I believe that the city council here has not taken the appropriate amount of action to resolve those concerns,” said Kyle Thompson, who asked the council to form a special committee to address traffic, sidewalk and crossing-guard needs before the school is built. Thompson told the council he mapped missing sidewalks and potential crosswalk locations and said he expects that drop-off and pick-up could add about 300 vehicles during peak hours.

Other neighbors described steep slopes, narrow roads, frequent deer crossings and past rollovers on nearby roads. “If you have any kind of an emergency — fire, earthquake — every parent with a child at that school is going to get in their car and start heading towards the school,” said Christine Mansfield, who said she lives on Cobblestone Loop and fears evacuation would be impeded.

Residents also said they collected community input quickly after hearing about the site and submitted a petition with about 300 signatures, urging greater notice and a full traffic impact study. Julian Bario asked who would pay for the sidewalks, crosswalks and other mitigation and urged the council to prioritize budget decisions.

Representatives of the Louisa May Alcott Community School responded in the public forum. Carrie Ashcraft, a school board member, said the board has spoken with city staff, will provide engineers’ data and a student-residency heat map, and is working on mitigation proposals including safe walking routes. “We will be sending all of you information including data on students’ residency, mitigating factors for traffic and travel to and from school,” Ashcraft said.

Ken Bulpit, also on the school board, said the board’s goal is to create “a high-quality community school that serves local families and becomes a positive asset to the area,” and pledged to work collaboratively with neighbors and the city.

Several residents did express support for the school in principle. Jackie Mortonson, a new resident, said she favored a local school that would let children walk or bike rather than travel across Highway 89 and Highway 6.

The council did not vote on the school site during the meeting. Multiple speakers asked the council to require a full traffic-impact study and a clarified plan for who will fund sidewalk, crossing and emergency-access upgrades before construction proceeds. School board representatives offered to meet with council members and neighborhood groups and said they would provide data and design suggestions to address safety concerns.

The public forum closed after the scheduled speakers. The council later proceeded with its agenda items, including budget and code amendments.