By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
USD 489 Hays superintendent showed the school board Monday night how it intends to route traffic on the new Hays High School Middle School site.
The new campus will include about 70 acres.
"There's going to be a lot going on at that site," Ron Wilson, superintendent, said.
Parent drop off for the middle school and Hays High School student traffic will be routed off of 13th east of Anthony.
In order to reduce stacking on 13th Street, HMS parents will wind around the high school to the southwest side of the middle school to pick up and drop off students.
Pickup will be routed the same way.
During non-peak hours, parents will be allowed to enter the HMS south parking lot from Golden Belt or 12th Street instead of driving around to the back of the school from 13th Street.
HMS classes will start 30 minutes earlier than HHS also in an attempt to reduce a backup of traffic in that area.
HMS traffic will exit onto 12th Street. HMS buses will pick up and drop off on the north side of the building.
High school student parking will be on the east side of the site next to the new football field. Students will enter from the same entrance off of 13th that the HMS parents will be using.
HHS teacher parking will be on the north side of the HHS building.
The city has received a KDOT grant to widen 13th Street from Anthony to Commerce.
The 3,5oo-foot segment is maintained by Ellis County and is an arterial road, carrying about 3,500 vehicles per day.
The street is currently two lanes wide, asphalt, with no shoulders.
It will be improved to a three-lane asphalt street with three-foot shoulders. The city also will extend the pedestrian and multi-use path along the north side of the street.
Road construction is set to start in spring 2024.
The city received a $1.2. million Kansas Department of Transportation cost-share grant. The city's share of $750,000 is included in the capital improvement plan in the 2023 budget. Ellis County has budgeted $500,000 in participating funds.
No new signals will be added. However, the configuration of the signal at 13th and Canterbury will likely be changed. Turn lanes will be added, as well as protected pedestrian islands to improve safety for students who are walking to school.
The school district will be paying for these features.
"We've thought a lot about how we're going to keep our kids safe," Wilson said.
Board President Craig Pallister said the district has Wilson Elementary and Hays Middle School next to each other now. It took some time to figure out the traffic flow but it worked out.
"There was a lot of thought and a lot of studying that went into this," Wilson said. "We think we have as good of a plan as we can put together."
A renovation of the former high school building into the new middle school will follow.