Post by refbasics on Feb 18, 2008 7:29:24 GMT -6
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/799346,6_1_NA18_BRIDGE_S1.article
Bridging the boundary divide?
Rt. 59 crossing a sticking point in zoning talks
February 18, 2008
By BRITT CARSON bcarson@scn1.com
The debate over a pedestrian bridge across Route 59 has spilled over into the Naperville Park District.
The bridge, which is scheduled to be completed in July, connects to Frontier Park on the east and to the Virgil Gilman trail on the west. The bridge has become a sticking point in the recently proposed high school boundaries in Indian Prairie School District 204.
Route 59 has been deemed a hazardous crossing by the Illinois Department of Transportation, which means the district has to transport students across the street, even if they live closer than the 1.5 mile designation of a walker.
However, residents of the Tall Grass neighborhood contend the bridge should change that designation, making them walkers, and provide a safe path to Neuqua Valley High School. Under the boundary proposal, they will attend Waubonsie Valley High School.
In a January memo included in their boundary proposal, school administrators stated the bridge does not qualify as a safe passage for students, partly due to the fact the Naperville Park District determined it was a secondary route for snow removal.
That Jan. 30 memo was based on an e-mail from Ed Dalton, parks director for the Park District, to Karla Zozulia, director of support services for District 204, which stated: "The new bridge will be placed on a secondary route, this means during heavier snow events, it may not be cleared until one or two days after the end of the snowfall."
But after being bombarded by phone calls Friday, Naperville Park District officials are changing their tune.
"The board never contacted my board to ask if this could be an accessway for students," said Kristen Jungles, Park District president. "Had they formally asked, we would have looked at how it was to be maintained and how to accommodate students."
Jungles said the school district merely inquired as to the maintenance status of the bridge and had they asked specifically about students using the bridge, the Park District's position would have changed.
"We have a good partnership with both school districts and had their board asked the question, we would have upgraded the route to a high priority, but they never asked us to," Jungles said.
The school district is responsible for submitting paperwork to IDOT to add or remove a street as a hazardous crossing. An IDOT representative declined to comment on the issue Friday, saying it was up to the school board and city to decide.
Kathy Birkett, deputy superintendent for District 204, has said previously the bridge was not the only factor in sending Fry students to Waubonsie. It simply came down to the numbers and several schools had to be moved out of Neuqua to keep it from being overcrowded. Those also include White Eagle and Peterson elementary schools.
Mark Metzger, school board president, said during the last boundary debate the administration looked into the bridge issue. Even if the bridge was determined a safe passage, it only qualified half of Tall Grass students as walkers to the freshman center and only about one-fourth of the neighborhood as walkers to the main campus, so the district would still be responsible for bussing a majority of those students.
The school board is set to consider the boundary proposal during a special meeting Tuesday.
Bridging the boundary divide?
Rt. 59 crossing a sticking point in zoning talks
February 18, 2008
By BRITT CARSON bcarson@scn1.com
The debate over a pedestrian bridge across Route 59 has spilled over into the Naperville Park District.
The bridge, which is scheduled to be completed in July, connects to Frontier Park on the east and to the Virgil Gilman trail on the west. The bridge has become a sticking point in the recently proposed high school boundaries in Indian Prairie School District 204.
Route 59 has been deemed a hazardous crossing by the Illinois Department of Transportation, which means the district has to transport students across the street, even if they live closer than the 1.5 mile designation of a walker.
However, residents of the Tall Grass neighborhood contend the bridge should change that designation, making them walkers, and provide a safe path to Neuqua Valley High School. Under the boundary proposal, they will attend Waubonsie Valley High School.
In a January memo included in their boundary proposal, school administrators stated the bridge does not qualify as a safe passage for students, partly due to the fact the Naperville Park District determined it was a secondary route for snow removal.
That Jan. 30 memo was based on an e-mail from Ed Dalton, parks director for the Park District, to Karla Zozulia, director of support services for District 204, which stated: "The new bridge will be placed on a secondary route, this means during heavier snow events, it may not be cleared until one or two days after the end of the snowfall."
But after being bombarded by phone calls Friday, Naperville Park District officials are changing their tune.
"The board never contacted my board to ask if this could be an accessway for students," said Kristen Jungles, Park District president. "Had they formally asked, we would have looked at how it was to be maintained and how to accommodate students."
Jungles said the school district merely inquired as to the maintenance status of the bridge and had they asked specifically about students using the bridge, the Park District's position would have changed.
"We have a good partnership with both school districts and had their board asked the question, we would have upgraded the route to a high priority, but they never asked us to," Jungles said.
The school district is responsible for submitting paperwork to IDOT to add or remove a street as a hazardous crossing. An IDOT representative declined to comment on the issue Friday, saying it was up to the school board and city to decide.
Kathy Birkett, deputy superintendent for District 204, has said previously the bridge was not the only factor in sending Fry students to Waubonsie. It simply came down to the numbers and several schools had to be moved out of Neuqua to keep it from being overcrowded. Those also include White Eagle and Peterson elementary schools.
Mark Metzger, school board president, said during the last boundary debate the administration looked into the bridge issue. Even if the bridge was determined a safe passage, it only qualified half of Tall Grass students as walkers to the freshman center and only about one-fourth of the neighborhood as walkers to the main campus, so the district would still be responsible for bussing a majority of those students.
The school board is set to consider the boundary proposal during a special meeting Tuesday.