I will hold a special community meeting for Single Member District 5B05 residents on Tuesday, January 25, at 6:30pm. We will discuss the use of the alleys behind Shining Stars Montessori Academy (SSMA) on 1240 Randolph Street NE, as well as a proposal by DDOT to amend the use of the alleys for school drop-off and pick-up.
This is a continuation of the discussion residents had at my Single Member District meeting on Wednesday, January 19. Representatives from DDOT and SSMA plan to attend.
This meeting may be of particular interest to residents of the 1200 block of Randolph Street NE, the 1200 block of Michigan Avenue, and the 4000-4100 blocks of 13th Street NE.
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Meeting ID: 863 1031 9786
Passcode: 346401
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Meeting ID: 863 1031 9786
Passcode: 346401
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Background and DDOT’s Proposed Alley Changes
At the end of the 2020-21 school year, SSMA began using the alley behind the school as a drop-off and pick-up location for some of its students, in addition to using the front door of the school for drop-off and pick-up for other students.
For the 2021-22 school year, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) issued COVID-19 health and safety guidance to schools. In that guidance, it recommended that schools try to keep student/teacher cohorts separate during arrival and dismissal by:
staggering arrival and departure times;
utilizing multiple points of entry/exit; and/or
creating clear space delineations for students to line up to enter/exit the school.
Pursuant to these suggestions, continued to use the rear of the school as the drop-off/pick up location for its younger students, and the front for older students. The vehicular traffic associated with the use of the alley for school drop-off/pick-ups has created some challenges for residents seeking to leave and return to their homes.
To address these concerns, DDOT has proposed to amend the traffic flow of the alley that runs parallel to the 1200 block of Randolph Street, as well as the alley that runs parallel to the 1200 block of Michigan Avenue, in order to accommodate school drop-off and pick-up traffic for SSMA.
Specifically, DDOT proposes to restrict alley access in both alleys between the hours of 8-9am and 2:30-4pm Monday through Friday. The east-west alley that runs parallel to Randolph Street would be one-way eastbound during those timeframes. I have confirmed with DDOT that vehicular traffic in the alley that runs parallel to Michigan Avenue would be two-way. Vehicles would be prohibited from traveling from turning northbound from the Randolph alley (where the school drop-off/pick-up line is) to the Michigan Ave. alley during the restricted times. It would instead be routed eastbound along the Randolph alley with other school traffic until it exits onto 13th Street.
The map to the right attempts to depict how DDOT’s proposal would affect traffic patterns in each alley.
In the Randolph Street alley, traffic would only flow eastbound (red arrow). Residents who live on the north side of Randolph, and on 12th, 13th, and Michigan whose driveways face the Randolph alley (circled in blue), would need to head eastbound with other SSMA traffic during the restricted times. Vehicles would be prohibited from turning northbound from the Randolph alley to the Michigan alley during school drop-off and pick-up hours.
In the Michigan alley, traffic would flow in both directions (green arrows). Residents whose driveways face this alley could enter and exit their driveways coming from the 13th Street exit furthest from the school (across from Shepherd St.).
Alternative Options: DDOT considered two other alternatives (shown below) prior to proposing the option above. The first was to allow drop-off/pick-up to continue in the alley without traffic restrictions. The second was to allow the west side of 13th Street to be used for school drop-off and pick-up instead of the alley.
Alternative 1: Allow the alley to continue to be used for drop-off and pick-up without traffic restrictions. This would allow vehicles to travel in either alley in both directions, space permitting.
Alternative 2 (13th Street drop-off/pick-up): Another option DDOT considered was to allow SSMA to use west side of 13th Street, between Randolph and Shepherd Streets, as a drop-off/pick-up zone for students instead of the alley. This option would restrict parking on 13th Street from 7-9am and 3-5pm on school days.
DDOT has recently informed me that it intends to create a condensed drop-off/pick-up zone on 13th Street between Randolph Street and the Randolph alley. It is not yet clear to me how the school intends to use this space to lessen the impact of the alley use for residents.