Buses to sub for ailing underpasses in Wilde Lake
Bryant Woods ES walkers to ride while work is underway
By Jennifer Broadwater
jbroadwater@patuxent.com
Posted 12/09/09
About 50 Bryant Woods Elementary School students will be provided with temporary bus transportation in coming weeks while the Columbia Association works to repair pedestrian tunnels near the school.
The association had planned to barricade two pedestrian underpasses on Twin Rivers Road, in Wilde Lake, earlier this week to begin two months of structural repairs.
However, when the association learned the tunnels were used by some students who walk to school, they delayed the work while the school system made arrangements for students, according to Dennis Mattey, assistant director for CA’s open space division.
“If the school system has made arrangements, we will work around those arrangements,” Mattey said. “We seem to have it worked out.”
CA’s decision to temporarily close the two underpasses has some parents and school leaders concerned about children crossing the at-times busy and curvy Twin Rivers Road on their walking routes to and from school.
School officials are in the process of arranging temporary bus transportation for the students affected by the tunnel closures.
“It was, of course, a huge concern to us, but we have been working with our transportation department to provide a temporary solution,” Bryant Woods Elementary School assistant principal Winnie Dreier said. “What we as a school want the parents to know is that we recognize the importance of the issue and do have something in place, but it’s just the final details being worked out.”
CA plans to barricade the underpasses on Twin Rivers Road at the Village Green and at Roslyn Rise, along with two underpasses on Tamar Drive in Long Reach, for staggered periods through early February in order to perform structural repairs.
Mattey said the underpasses are about 40 years old and work orders include pressure grouting, epoxy crack injections, concrete patching and other caulking, painting and lighting repairs.
Buses to take extra load
School system transportation director David Drown said about 50 children who are assigned to walk to Bryant Woods from neighborhoods affected by the tunnel closures will be provided with buses during the repairs.
Buses in the school’s existing fleet will pick up the extra students at new bus stops being arranged along Twin Rivers Road, he said.
“Some of those students are 4 and 5 years old. We’re not comfortable with them using the pedestrian crosswalks like we are for the older kids,” he said, adding that no changes are planned for the Wilde Lake middle and high school walkers, who will be expected to use pedestrian crossings at traffic lights.
The tunnel closures on Tamar Drive do not affect any young students, Drown said, adding that students who walk to Long Reach High School could use pedestrian crosswalks in lieu of the tunnels at Hayshed and Lambskin lanes.
Bryant Woods resident April Wainwright said she thinks the work should have been scheduled for the summer, when schools are not in session.
“To me, that’s much better than risking a child’s life. It’s frightening for me,” said Wainwright, whose daughters, ages 8 and 12, are among the children who use the tunnels to commute to school. “I’m extremely concerned about kids, especially the little ones, crossing Twin Rivers. They’re going to take their chances and just run across.”
CA laid plans for the work in May, when they were told by the school system that the tunnels were not on students’ travel paths, Mattey said. Had CA known the work interfered with students’ walking routes, the association would have scheduled the work for summertime, as it is doing for other projects, such as repairs to the pedestrian bridge over Cedar Lane at Swansfield Elementary School, he said.
“The work is not urgent in nature, so the repairs could wait,” he said.
The extra transportation will result in a slight increase in mileage and marginal added cost, Drown said, adding that some of the Bryant Woods buses will be more cramped, including one bus that is expected to temporarily carry 56 or 57 students and has a capacity of 64 students.
County police officers also are expected to keep an eye on Twin Rivers crossings during the tunnel closures to monitor students’ safety, Drown said.
The association had planned to barricade two pedestrian underpasses on Twin Rivers Road, in Wilde Lake, earlier this week to begin two months of structural repairs.
However, when the association learned the tunnels were used by some students who walk to school, they delayed the work while the school system made arrangements for students, according to Dennis Mattey, assistant director for CA’s open space division.
“If the school system has made arrangements, we will work around those arrangements,” Mattey said. “We seem to have it worked out.”
CA’s decision to temporarily close the two underpasses has some parents and school leaders concerned about children crossing the at-times busy and curvy Twin Rivers Road on their walking routes to and from school.
School officials are in the process of arranging temporary bus transportation for the students affected by the tunnel closures.
“It was, of course, a huge concern to us, but we have been working with our transportation department to provide a temporary solution,” Bryant Woods Elementary School assistant principal Winnie Dreier said. “What we as a school want the parents to know is that we recognize the importance of the issue and do have something in place, but it’s just the final details being worked out.”
CA plans to barricade the underpasses on Twin Rivers Road at the Village Green and at Roslyn Rise, along with two underpasses on Tamar Drive in Long Reach, for staggered periods through early February in order to perform structural repairs.
Mattey said the underpasses are about 40 years old and work orders include pressure grouting, epoxy crack injections, concrete patching and other caulking, painting and lighting repairs.
Buses to take extra load
School system transportation director David Drown said about 50 children who are assigned to walk to Bryant Woods from neighborhoods affected by the tunnel closures will be provided with buses during the repairs.
Buses in the school’s existing fleet will pick up the extra students at new bus stops being arranged along Twin Rivers Road, he said.
“Some of those students are 4 and 5 years old. We’re not comfortable with them using the pedestrian crosswalks like we are for the older kids,” he said, adding that no changes are planned for the Wilde Lake middle and high school walkers, who will be expected to use pedestrian crossings at traffic lights.
The tunnel closures on Tamar Drive do not affect any young students, Drown said, adding that students who walk to Long Reach High School could use pedestrian crosswalks in lieu of the tunnels at Hayshed and Lambskin lanes.
Bryant Woods resident April Wainwright said she thinks the work should have been scheduled for the summer, when schools are not in session.
“To me, that’s much better than risking a child’s life. It’s frightening for me,” said Wainwright, whose daughters, ages 8 and 12, are among the children who use the tunnels to commute to school. “I’m extremely concerned about kids, especially the little ones, crossing Twin Rivers. They’re going to take their chances and just run across.”
CA laid plans for the work in May, when they were told by the school system that the tunnels were not on students’ travel paths, Mattey said. Had CA known the work interfered with students’ walking routes, the association would have scheduled the work for summertime, as it is doing for other projects, such as repairs to the pedestrian bridge over Cedar Lane at Swansfield Elementary School, he said.
“The work is not urgent in nature, so the repairs could wait,” he said.
The extra transportation will result in a slight increase in mileage and marginal added cost, Drown said, adding that some of the Bryant Woods buses will be more cramped, including one bus that is expected to temporarily carry 56 or 57 students and has a capacity of 64 students.
County police officers also are expected to keep an eye on Twin Rivers crossings during the tunnel closures to monitor students’ safety, Drown said.
user comments (1)
user belovedcartoonmouse says...
I say we teach the children to run fast. They will need it when they have a family of their own and need to catch dinner.
Posted 7:19 PM, 12.09.09 | Permalink
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