During the Monday night Gasconade R-2 board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy told board members that a published conversation in The Gasconade County Republican from a Nov. 2 county commission meeting revisited the possible addition of a turn lane at the entrances and exits of the school campus.

Hardy reiterated that the district is no longer interested in a turn lane and has fixed its congestion issues with bus lanes. However, they are always interested in having safety discussions.

“One thing I will preface before I let Glenn (Ely, board president) and the board discuss this is Chief (Scott Griffith) is compiling me a list of the number of accidents that has taken place at the turn lane at Walmart versus on campus, around campus at the highway, or as you are turning on campus. The reason for this is because there was an article last week (in The Republican) and someone said they had contacted us,” Hardy said. “I have not talked to anyone. I think Glenn said he might have had a discussion. As far as someone coming to talk about it, I know we did develop a bus lane in 2015 with that bond money for buses.”

Hardy asked Ely to speak on the matter.

“Not to this, but I do follow our Community Foundation Forum that we had, the subject came up on, like often the subject is how well-aligned the information is on where we are at, what was willing,” Ely began. “That was a really good conversation as conversations typically are. The key focus for the board and administration is always the safety of our students and our staff and our parents transporting. That discussion came up and generated a reverse observation, knowing that both the school — if there is an incident out there, I get notified. Also, where I happen to work, I know there are incidents. The bigger issue, the turn lane, it’s a great idea to go how can we create safer? That’s a great idea, it’s fantastic. We should have those discussions all the time. The concern is, about the turn lane, to being able to safely, is it going to create complexity. Really, a broader discussion is three lanes coming all the way up past the school. That seems to make a lot more sense.”

Ely said the Industrial Park also creates more traffic in the area as people file out and big trucks come and go.

“In the discussion, the idea came up, there’s more accidents where there’s a four-way stoplight,” Ely said. “So just think if a turn lane, it’s still important to have that safe discussion, so that is why I ask to look at what the data has said in front of the school and where there’s already Missouri highway, where 16, 17, and 18-year-old kids in a turn lane. So we really want to be thoughtful. It’s not about land, it’s not about anything other than are we creating it safer?”

Ely said he mentioned to Hardy during the previous bond issue, while they were investigating traffic flow, that safety is something that they should consider everywhere.

“Where we feel like a bigger win is if we could consider evaluating the north side and create a different traffic flow,” Ely said. “It’s really condensed in there and that is the concern. A turn lane with young drivers — it creates a complexity and the unintended consequences — we need to be thoughtful. We’ve already got data that says, wow, that may not be the best first choice, but it is still the best choice to talk about how to create a safer entry and exit to our schools. That data is going to help us understand that better.”

Jason Crowe said he thinks the board looks at the turn lane every year-and-a-half to two years.

“We look at it and look at it and look at it and come to the same conclusion,” Crowe said. “Are we actually going to do something that makes it more complicated than it already is? I turn out of there every day and think, ok, if we had a turn lane there, would it help? I don’t know, man.”

Ely said the turn lane is a project that is considered fairly highly ranked.

“It’s not about money, its about good stewardship and creating a good end result, which is the safety of our young drivers, parents, and staff getting in and out,” Ely said. “It is quite a stretch getting in and out and that bridge is what is causing the complexity. You are right on top of turning.”

Hardy said that a previous group that brought the topic forward claimed there was a school comparable to Gasconade R-2 with similar situation. However, when she asked if there was an industrial park nearby that caused more traffic for the other school, she was informed there was not. Additionally, it was a smaller campus and student population.

“It was just a school out in a rural community,” Hardy said. “So there is not a school our size with an industrial park close to it where kids are having to come in and go out where it would affect the safety of the entrance and exits.”

Ely said they should actively continue to discuss the safety aspect and request data available from entities and sources to decide on things that make meaningful, long-term changes.

Director Joyce Lowes asked about the speed limit in front of the schools which is currently 45 miles per hour. Hardy said they had requested MoDOT to have the speed limit lowered to 35 miles per hour and their request was denied. Their next step would be to request legislators make the speed limit change across the state.

“During peek time, there is so much traffic coming in and out of those exits,” Ely said. “I think spreading that out maybe — it is significantly better, it’s not perfected, and that is what we need to discuss.”

The district’s School Resource Officer Ike Herbel said he reached out to the director of MoDOT and requested a speed study to make a more educated assumption on what they think would be best.

“When we get the additional data, if we have questions or comments, that’s fantastic, we want to encourage that conversation,” Ely said.