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Manara-CS090407Manara Academy Traffic Circulation Plan Current Traffic Concerns Manara Academy has worked with the Planning/Engineering department of the City of Coppell to understand the traffic concerns for drop-off and pick-ups for the school. It was understood that the major concern for the City of Coppell is that if the drop-off and pick-up situations would create queuing issues in Heartz Road and eventually in Sandy Lake Road. The City was also interested to know if the school would offer any bus service and if so they were interested to know the Traffic Circulation Plan for both car traffic and bus traffic keeping in mind the queuing issues and the safety of the children. The City also recommended avoiding access to the facility through London Way. Current Facility Conditions The intended school location 140 S Heartz Road is a 31,224 S.F. building sitting on 4.858 acres of land and has 109 parking spots. There are three (3) entrances/exits to the facility on the Heartz side and there is one (1) entrance/exit to the facility on London Way. Based on the above information it appears that the school facility has good amount parking spaces that can be used for internal queuing during drop-off and pick-ups and it also has good access points to enter and exit the school facility. Below are two (2) queuing exhibits developed by Scot A. Johnson, P.E., PTOE, Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. The first exhibit shows that there is area for forty (40) stacking spaces at generous twenty five (25') foot per vehicle. The second exhibit shows room for additional opportunity of twenty three (23) spaces with double stacking. These exhibits are provided to give a good idea of queuing inside the school facility. Exhibit-I Single Stacking with Fifty (40) spaces at generous twenty (25') foot per vehicle Vehicle Storage Capacity 1,000 Linear Feet of Queue Distance from ROW line to loading position 40 Stacking Spaces at generous 25' per vehicle (shown bek>w) 50 Stacking Spaces at tightly packed 20' per vehicle Plus opportunities for double stacking Plus parking spaces Exhibit - II Double stacking with additional twenty three (23) stacking spaces Vehicle Storage Capacity 1,000 Linear Feet of Queue Distance from ROW line to loading position 40 Stacking Spaces at generous 25' per vehicle (shown below) 50 Stacking Spaces at tightty packed 20' per vehicle Pius opportunities far double stacking (23 additional spaces shown} Plus parking spaces Circulation Plan for Car & Buses Manara Academy is a K-8t" grade school with max capacity of 500 students. Manara Academy will start with K-5t" grade during their first operation school year (August 2009) and will add one grade level each year. The hours of school operation will be Monday-Thursday: 8:00 am until 3:30 pm and Friday: 8:00 am until 1:00 pm for students. Manara is currently enrolling students and the application due date is April 15`h 2009. Since Manara Academy is a public charter school authorized by the Texas State Board of Education, it cannot formally get transportation information from potential students until the students are officially admitted to the school (if an open lottery is required) after the enrollment deadline. So, based on the preliminary voluntary surveys and initial enrollment information, Manara Academy intends to use three (3) thirty (30') foot buses. Based on the recommendation from the City of Coppell, London Way will be closed during school hours. Access to the school facility through London Way is currently gated and will be used to prevent regular access to the facility. Below are some of the key vehicle traffic data based on our enrollment information for year 1 (August 2009) • Year 1 -School opens August 24th 2009 with K-5th grade. Maximum enrollment - 316 • As of current enrollment numbers, we have 270 applications belonging to 175 families. The break-down of the number of families based on their home city location: Arlington 8 Carrollton 5 Coppell 22 Dallas 7 Euless 13 Flower Mound 4 Fort Worth 2 Grand Prairie 1 Grapevine 3 Hurst 1 Irving 102 Lewisville 7 Total # Families 175 • The estimated number of cars during at drop-off and pick-up times Total # Families 175 # of Families Needing Buses (based on 80 students 48 needing bus and 60% of these having siblings) Total # of Cars each day 127 • The estimated number of students that would use the bus system - 48 • Based on surveys from our Town Hall meetings, we estimate that around 40-50 students will utilize the after-school program • Manara Academy will utilize 3-30' buses to transport students. We will have the buses arrive at staggered times to allow the students to get off the buses and the bus to move prior to the cars arriving. The stagger times will be: 0 7:20 am Bus #1 0 7:30 am Bus #2 0 7:40 am Bus #3 • For dismissal, we will still use 3-30' buses to transport students. All of the buses will arrive at the same time after the cars have vacated the parking lot. o On Monday-Thursday: eus #1, eus #2, and eus #3 will arrive at 3;50 pm for dismissal of the bus students. o On Fridays: Bus #1, Bus #2, and eus #3 will arrive at 1;20 pm for dismissal of the bus students. Car Traffic We have demonstrated on our traffic circulation plan given below that cars would enter the parking lot on the northern most entrance on Heartz Road. Once they enter into the parking lot they will continue to the back of the lot and then loop back around and end at the front entrance of the building. We will have staff out directing traffic to ensure the safety and security of all students. The students will then be let out at the front entrance from their cars. This will allow the parents to create the carpool line and not have to exit their cars for their children. This also allows for the safety and security of all students because children will not be permitted to walk through the parking lot unattended. For those parents who wish to take their children into the school, they will enter the parking lot the same but park in a designated parking spot. For dismissal, the parents will park in the parking spaces and we will have designated dismissal points for the grade levels. This would create a natural staggering effect for dismissals. Below is Exhibit -III that shows vehicle traffic circulation plan. Exhibit -III Traffic Flow for Cars Bus Traffic As mentioned earlier, based on the preliminary investigation, Manara Academy intends to use three (3) thirty (30') foot buses. The timings for drop-off will be staggered to arrive at 7:20am, 7:30am and 7:40am to avoid the car traffic. For dismissal all the buses would arrive at 3:50pm Monday to Thursday and 1:20pm on Fridays. The buses will enter through the northern most entrance on Heartz road and will follow the path as indicated in the traffic circulation plan. The children will get off the bus on the curb side and will be assisted by Traffic Patrols {Staff) to safely enter the facility. Below is Exhibit - IV that shows bus traffic circulation plan. Exhibit- IV Traffic Flow for Buses Personnel plan for arrival and dismissal times Manara will utilize numerous staff members to ensure the proper flow of traffic. We will have one staff member stationed at the following locations: • Northern most entrance on Heartz (Car's entrance location) • London Way Gate that is located in the back of our parking lot • At the side door in the back where parents will enter who have parked their cars in the parking lot. This person will ensure that traffic continues to move and students do not vacate cars from the carpool lane. • At the next curve (18' radius) to begin putting cars into 2 lanes to enter the front of the school. This person will also hold up traffic until all cars in the front of the building have exited all of the children (to ensure the safety of the children). • At the exit which is the southernmost entrance on Heartz. This person will also hold up traffic until all cars in the front of the building have exited all of the children (to ensure the safety of the children). We will have 2 staff members located in front of the building to help students exit cars and enter the building. Summary Manara Academy understands the traffic queue concerns of the City of Coppell and has provided a sound traffic circulation plan for drop-off and pick-up to avoid any queuing in Heartz or Sandy Lake Road. The traffic plan provided by Manara Academy separates the car and bus traffic with the bus schedules being staggered. Manara Academy staff members will be assisting the direction of traffic to allow for smooth flow and safety and security for all students.