The city will apply for a state grant to improve traffic flow at pick-up and drop-off time at the highly congested Dry Hollow Elementary School. It should know by January if it was successful.
The city has been talking about Dry Hollow traffic issues for years, The Dalles Public Works Director Dave Anderson told the school board last week.
But the project got a boost when the Blue Zones Project – The Dalles came to town last year, and lent resources and new ideas, Anderson said.
Blue Zones, a community wellness endeavor, spearheaded a test project at the end of last school year that temporarily implemented traffic flow improvements at Dry Hollow. The city considered the test a big success, said The Dalles City Engineer Dale McCabe, who is also on the built environment committee of Blue Zones.
When state officials saw the results of the pilot project, they were impressed, McCabe said. “I’m feeling like we’ve already got our foot in the door a little bit.”
If the project is awarded, the city would get the money next March. The project is “shovel ready” and McCabe said the city could start work next summer.
The project includes $360,000 in actual improvements, and a significant 25 percent contingency requirement, plus engineering fees, would bring the total project cost to $514,000, he said.
The proposal put forward by the city includes much, but not all, of what was included in the test project.
The school has kept from that test project the “tear drop” drop-off circle in the wide gravel area at the base of the ballfield next to the school. That created a single access point, Anderson said, instead of a wide open space for people to fend for themselves in.
The project would add curbing along Dry Hollow Road, north of the ballfield, and create nine to 12 on-street parking spaces there. It would also add curbing on the east end of the gravel area, to limit access to the tear-drop area. The only entry and exit point would be on Dry Hollow Road.
Directly in front of the school, the project would move the sidewalk closer to the school to make room for a drop-off lane and for back-in, angled parking. That will double the amount of available parking spaces, McCabe said.
Because the project would move the sidewalks closer to the school and cut a bit into a hillside, a four-foot retaining wall would be built between the angled walkway that comes down from the school and the driveway entrance to the school.
A crosswalk will be added mid-block, with bulb-outs to make the crossing distance shorter and button-activated flashing beacons to draw attention to people in the crosswalk. A temporary bulb-out sidewalk is already there, marked off by cones, and has proved popular. During the test last spring, up to 120 people used it per day, McCabe said.
Every morning the school puts down cones and creates a drop-off snorkel lane in front of the school, and posts no parking signs along the street, said Principal Teresa Peters. After drop-off, it reverts back to on-street parking for student pick-up.
It works to have a snorkel lane for morning drop-off because drop-off can last for a full hour and there’s less congestion in the lane. In the afternoon, all the kids are ready for pickup at the same time, creating congestion and making a snorkel lane impractical.
Peters lauded the “amazing partnership” with Blue Zones, and the number of volunteers they were able to bring to the test project.
The mini roundabout at 19th and Lewis that was part of the Blue Zones test project will not be part of the grant, Anderson said. It was unpopular with neighbors. For the time being, it is not on the to-do list, but if it is seen as a need in the future, it could be revisited.
Also taken off the table was the idea of removing the planter strip on the north side of the street. Homeowners strongly objected, so the idea was removed.
The North Wasco County School District 21 school board last week agreed to dedicate land to the city for the project, since ideally, the city needs to own the land in order to qualify for the highly competitive grant, Anderson said.
The pot of money the city is vying for, dubbed Safe Routes to School, Anderson said. The state made $10 million available for the first year, and expected about 85 applications. Instead, it got 145 letters of intent, seeking over $100 million.
The city has already sent in a letter of intent indicating it would apply for the grant. The grant application itself is due Oct. 15. Anderson said the city is “fairly optimistic” about its chances of success.
The state will make $10 million per year available for five years, and then it will go up to $15 million per year.
The school district agreed to dedicate a strip of land to the city that is as narrow as 14 feet by the tear-drop gravel area, then widens to 39 feet at the entrance to the school, and narrows to a 22-foot strip along the front of the school.
The school district will ask for a reversionary clause if the project doesn’t get built.
Anderson said if the city doesn’t get the grant the first year, it will reapply.
The project needs a 20 percent local match, and Anderson said the city will donate its engineering fees, plus it will build sidewalks as part of the local match.
The school district would have to move some utilities to fully implement the teardrop, which includes creating parking spaces along the north edge of the ballfield.
The district hopes it could pay for that with bond proceeds, if voters approve a $235 million bond in November to build four new schools.
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