MOUNT VERNON — City Council met with members of the Mount Vernon City School Board on Monday to discuss several matters, including the idea of a new roadway that would connect Cougar Drive with the high school parking lot.
Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis showed council and board members a map with the proposed east-west roadway, which would run from the northeast corner of the high school parking lot over to Cougar Drive. He said the proposal, which had been discussed by city and school officials a number of years ago, would hopefully alleviate traffic congestion in the area of Mount Vernon Avenue, South Division Street and Martinsburg Road.
Safety-Service Director Dave Glass said the roadway would be about 800 to 1,000 feet in length. He said the strip of land in question, owned by the Mount Vernon Nazarene University, would be ideal for a roadway, in part because of a power company easement along that strip and because a city wastewater line follows a similar path over to the wastewater plant on Cougar Drive.
Mavis said he thinks the project is one that Dr. Daniel Martin, president of MVNU, has indicated a willingness to discuss.
Steve Short, superintendent of Mount Vernon City Schools, said the roadway could help buses trying to get in and out of the high school parking lot onto Division Street.
“It would help buses trying to get in and out and would also open up the whole area for cars,” he said. “A lot of the time, buses pull in and they’re fighting people who are dropping their kids off in cars and trying to get around kids. It allows us an avenue to possibly bring our buses in and bring them back out.”
Short said if the roadway were designated a bus route, it could prevent traffic congestion around the other entrances to the high school. He said school officials would require help from a city planner or traffic engineer to set the best traffic patterns for the roadway.
Short said funding is something council members and school officials can discuss in the future, adding that there may be grant money for such a project.
The discussion shifted to the administration’s efforts to obtain funding to ensure that students in the city have safe ways to walk or bike to school. The Safe Routes to School Program provides federal dollars to state departments of transportation for projects such as the construction of sidewalks, and improvements to pedestrian and bicycle routes.
Glass said the city has been awarded $5,000 in grant money from the state to create SRS plans for Dan Emmett, Pleasant Street, East School and the Middle School; the Ohio Department of Transportation will hire an engineer for the planning. Last year, he said, the city applied for $250,000 but was denied because the plans had not been yet been formed. In about six months, the city can apply again for funding.
Fair said council has discussed a proposal to lower the speed limit on East High Street many times in recent meetings. He said members of council and the administration should meet with school board officials as well as representatives of East School about establishing a main crosswalk for students on East High Street.
Short expressed his support for Fair’s suggestion.
Glass said the SRS program requires that meetings be held at each of the schools to solicit input from parents.
The mayor also discussed the use of school parking lots for the city’s 2008 Fourth of July celebration in honor of Knox County’s bicentennial celebration. The Heritage Centre Association has been given permission by Sanoh on Mount Vernon Avenue to use its parking lot for additional events and attractions, including a concert in the Sanoh parking lot. He added that, because of the larger-than-normal celebration, the city will need to obtain the school board’s permission to allow the public to use school parking lots, as was done in for Mount Vernon’s bicentennial fireworks display in 2005.
Short said he has no objection to use of school parking lots.
“I like the concept of working together with the city on particular projects like this,” he said.
