Bel Air supports construction of Homestead Wakefield Elementary

BEL AIR, Md., (April 25, 2022) – The Town of Bel Air supports construction of a new school to replace the existing Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School buildings.
The Planning Commission has approved the new Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School with certain conditions. One of the conditions is a 50-foot-wide public road right of way circulating around the school that would connect East MacPhail Road and West MacPhail Road. The road itself does not need to be built prior to the opening of the new Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School.
The new building will be a 2-story elementary school with over 100,000 square feet of space. Bel Air Middle School and the proposed Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School will have a combined rated capacity of 2,343 students, not including visitors, teachers, and staff. No other campus of this capacity is served by one entrance with a traffic signal and one local street.
It is a matter of safety for a campus of that size that there be additional access to the schools. In case of emergency, there must be sufficient access points to allow first responders to quickly reach all parts of the campus. Additionally, there must be sufficient exits to evacuate students and staff in the event of an emergency.
The connection of East MacPhail Road and West MacPhail Road will improve the safety of our youngest residents by:

~ Providing first responders multiple access from different directions should there be a medical
emergency, fire, gas leak, or active shooter, or other mass casualty events.
~ Allowing direct access to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center through one traffic signal – the
current route would be via Baltimore Pike (eight stop lights) or Ring Factory Road (four stop
lights). The reduction in response time would be 2-3 minutes, assuming normal traffic.
~ Providing students who live south and west of the school a more direct, less trafficked route
to access the school and ballfields.
To address other concerns about student safety, the road could
~ Be designed to circulate around the north side of the school and recreation fields to be as far
away from HWES as possible. This will also allow for easy access to and from Bel Air Middle
School.
~ Include multiple methods to control vehicle speed with input from stakeholders including
Harford County Public Schools, Harford County, State Highway Administration, parents,
and the Town.
~ Be widened to add dedicated outbound left turn lane at the entrance to South Main Street and
relieve the congestion and excessive queuing of vehicles during drop-off and pick-up.
~ Improve traffic circulation to the benefit of any future renovation of Bel Air Middle School.

The connection of East and West MacPhail Road has been part of the Town's Comprehensive Plan for decades. It is even more important now with the increase in the number of students on the campus. Harford County Public Schools has been aware since August 2009 that the road would be an important part of the plan for the new Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School project.
The plan to connect MacPhail Road is intended to improve the safety of our community - not diminish it. In the event of an emergency, it will provide better access to the schools as well as better access to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center.
We look forward to working with Harford County Public Schools to ensure the safety of students and the on time opening of the new Homestead/Wakefield Elementary School.