Traffic Study Committee Presents Findings to Quaker Valley School Board

A Quaker Valley committee created to look at high school safety concerns presented its findings to the school board Tuesday night, offering a variety of recommendations.

Jason Richey, spokesperson for the group, said the 18-member committee held extensive meetings over the past several months, took tours of the neighborhood and the high school, participated in online surveys and did individual research to come up with cost-effective ideas.

Richey said the committee also read the David Wooster traffic study commissioned by the school district last year to review traffic and pedestrian safety issues at the high school.

The committee mostly agreed on the short- and mid-term solutions, but long-term solutions were more contentious, he said. 

Of the 18 members, he said 10 felt they could see the need for the three property acquisitions next to the high school to provide more room. Others felt it wasn't a good use of taxpayer dollars, he said. 

Richey said some in the group also felt the school district should conduct an analysis on whether the Leetsdale school site is the best place for a high school, based on ground water, land topography, and other factors.   

Richey personally wrote a 10-page report exploring a new high school campus, a topic he said wasn’t discussed as a group but one that he wanted to also present as an option. 

He suggested the district appoint a committee to find 40 to 50 acres in the district that would allow the school space to build the kind of campus it wants while maximizing safety and preserving housing in Leetsdale. 

"Is this where you want the high school for the next 50 years," he asked.

Some long-term solutions included: a parking garage and relocating the tennis courts to the recreation fields in Bell Acres to create more space.

Short-term solutions included cutting back vegetation and adding a blind spot mirror and mid-term solutions involved a curb cut in the front of the school for a drop off.

From an engineering standpoint, Ollie Poppenberg Jr. of Sewickley, said he felt the drop off lane in front of the high school should be explored to see how much it could alleviate traffic safety issues. 

School officials said the traffic committee was meant to be a microcosm of the district, with representation from each region. 

But committee member, Tom Weber of Leet, said he had to write corrections and clarifications to the final report because it "completely omitted" what he felt was a critical conclusion from the committee. 

"The real reason the advisory committee was formed was because the school board in 2012 on two occasions voted unanimously to purchase two properties near the high school without an approved plan for those properties. The administration and school board presented the premise that these properties were needed to solve a traffic safety problem and the danger of pedestrians being dropped off on Beaver Street."  

Weber said he asked the committee if anyone disagreed with the conclusion that the district’s purchase of properties was not part of a safety plan. He said there was a silent vote of agreement in which no one raised their hand or offered comment. Weber said he asked the administration to reflect that conclusion with changes to the report, but it never happened.

School officials said no opinions were left out of the report.

Jerilyn Scott of Leet, committee member, said she disagreed with Weber’s conclusion and did speak up. She told the board that the committee with  divergent and passionate opinions overall had a respectful and open commentary, and an opportunity to provide input and express themselves. She thanked the district for the process , and particularly Heidi Ondek, assistant superintendent, whom she said made everyone feel heard.

"There are certainly issues we were not able to reach a consensus on, or come anywhere close to it, which is to be expected," Scott said.

School officials said no immediate action would be taken regarding the recommendations. 

Board President Jack Norris said the school board is in the process of having a technical analysis of the high school site to look at subsurface conditions along with a structural analysis to determine the future usability of the grounds for potential renovation or expansion of the high school.