Colton School SRTS 2013 - Palouse RTPO

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Colton School Existing Conditions Siting Colton School is located in the southwest corner of town, on Union Street. The school grounds are bounded to the north by Broadway Street Fast Facts and to the south by McKinley Street. The main Travel Mode: 3% of the student body is entrance to the school is on Union Street. Marked estimated to walk or bike to school. Given the rural setting +60% of students are bussed crosswalks at the intersection of McKinley and between home and school. Union Street, and Fountain and Union Street City of Colton Population: 418 (2010 US provide walking/biking access to the school. The Census) school is currently undergoing a remodel (see Fig. 3) creating an excellent opportunity to improve quality access improvements to the site. Plans Colton School does not have any existing safe routes to school plans or maps. Loading Zone The planned parent dropoff area is located on Union Street just north of the McKinley Street intersection. This change will significantly improve traffic congestion and safety for school children. Buses load/unload students via a bus lane in the main parking lot on the west side of the school building near the main entrance. Intersections and Crossing Guard Locations Colton School has a crossing guard enforcement program staffed by paid employees of the school district. School Route Conditions Routes to school are characterized by an incomplete sidewalk network, with significant gaps found along Broadway, Fountain, Union, and McKinley Street. Marked crossings exist across from the main school entrance, but there are few other designated crossings on routes that students would likely use to access the school. Southeast Washington School Walk Route Study Data Collection and Analysis Project Fig 3. The planned new school siting for Colton School Appendix: School Site Evaluations and Recommendations page 28 Engineering Recommendations Crossings Highway 195 is a significant barrier to student walking and biking activity and access. There are existing high visibility crosswalks at the unsignalized intersections of Hwy 195/Steptoe Street and Hwy 195/Gregor Street. It is recommended that these crossings be retrofitted to include curb extensions. This treatment will reduce the crossing distance for pedestrians and also improve the visibility, for motorists, of students waiting to cross the street. In addition, the approach to both Union Street and Gregor Street should be outfitted with a flashing school warning beacon and 20 mph school zone speed limit signs. Sidewalks Though sidewalk coverage is fairly strong throughout the town, some key gaps in the network exist. Sidewalk should be developed on at least one side of the roadway on McKinley Street from Ferguson Street to Lincoln Street. Steptoe Street between Fountain Street and College Street is also in need of sidewalks. Extending the sidewalks on Line street north to Hwy 195 would also improve pedestrian access. Bikeways The addition of bike lanes to the major roadways, such as Hwy 195/Broadway and Union Street would improve access for bicyclists. In addition, some of the school routes would benefit from low impact/low cost bikeway solutions, such as wayfinding, bicycle shared lane markings (SLMs), and traffic calming as required. Streets that have been optimized for pedestrian and bicycle travel in this way are often referred to as “neighborhood greenways” or “family-friendly routes.” Streets in Colton that have been identified for these types of low impact treatments include: • Steptoe Street from Depoe Street to College Street • McKinley Street from Ferguson Street to Lincoln Street Southeast Washington School Walk Route Study Data Collection and Analysis Project LEGEND Half-mile distance Joh Proposed Facilities n so Crossing Guard Location nC olto ý Æ High visibility crossing n 8 9 O N M L : Ped actuated signal Ç Æ Å School sign Î Í School zone beacon | 3 2 1 Speed sign Recommended Facilities Proposed Sidewalk Proposed Bike Lane Proposed Shared Lane Markings å DepoeSchools c Æ Library Rail Lines of Washingtion State Vulcan 195 Lake Line Union Fountain Cregor Steptoe Mckinley Colton School Harrison Li on nc Fergus Summ it lno m Ri Washington Lake College Busch k oc mr Ri WSDOT, GIS and Roadway Data Office, Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i- cubed, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community Colton School Engineering Recommendations F Southeast Washington Walking Study Data Collection and Analysis Project Date: June 2013 0 500 1,000 Feet 30 Non-Infrastructure Recommendations Colton School does not currently offer any walking and biking specific programs or education. Details about individual education and encouragement programs are found in Chapter Two. To further increase safe student walking and biking activity in Colton, the following are recommend- ed as possible next steps: • Walk/Bike to School Day/Week/Month (annually) • Back-to-School Blitz • Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Education Course and/or Curriculum • A Safe Walking/Biking Map distributed to parents/students Procedural Recommendations The Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 392-151 mandates the preparation of “suggested route plans” and the distribution of a recommended school route to all elementary students. The code also provides the details of organizing and training safety patrols. The suggested route plan for Asotin is shown at right. This plan is recommended based on considerations of traffic patterns existing traffic controls, and other crossing protection aids such as school patrols. These route plans limit the number of school crossings so that students move through the crossings in groups, allowing only one entrance-exit from each block to and from school. To further increase the use of the suggested route plans, the following are recommended as next steps for the school: • Distribute the suggested route plans to all students with instructions that it be taken home and discussed with parents • Consider locations along the suggested routes where school safety patrols would be beneficial • Form a Safety Advisory Committee consisting of school administration, law enforcement, traffic engineering professionals, and the school-parent association. • Consider using Student Transportation Allocation funding as matching funds for the construction of recommended engineering improvements Southeast Washington School Walk Route Study Data Collection and Analysis Project er Beck Vulcan LEGEND 195 å Schools Crossing Guard Location Cregor Steptoe Æ ý High visibility crossing n Union lto Co å ý Æ Marked crossing n so Mckinley 8 9 O N M L : hn Ped actuated signal Jo Harrison Ç Æ Å on School sign Î Í m Fergus Ri Washington School zone beacon College | 3 2 1 Speed sign Ô ! Shared Use Path U Bus stop c Æ Library 1/4 mile distance from school Existing School Route 1-mile Buffer Rail Lines of Washingtion State Waw a wai Depoe Vulcan Cregor Lake Steptoe Fountain Union Mckinley å Colton School Harrison Li on Line Summit nc Fergus ol m Washington 19 n Lake Ri 5 College k oc mr Ri Rim Busch WSDOT, GIS and Roadway Data Office Colton School Walk Route Map F Southeast Washington Walking Study Data Collection and Analysis Project Date: May 2013 0 1,000 2,000 Feet 32