Sunset Park Center for Accelerated Studies

Sunset Park Center for Accelerated Studies The following are a simple list of advantages, disadvantages, and recommendations based on a community assessment. It is not intended to be a list of complete recommendations and is in no way exhaustive. No set of recommendations can absolutely prevent accidents, injuries or even death from occurring, but we believe that the list of recommendations will help create a safer place for children while going to and from school. Please be sure to consult with SC Department of Transportation, school transportation officials, city, county, council of government, and/ or other municipal transportation staff regarding the transportation issues and recommendations outlined below. All engineering recommendations in this plan are considered planning level and require further engineering analysis, design, or public input before implementation and should be in full compliance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD), 2009 edition and other applicable federal, state and local guidelines, standards and policies. Safety Assessment Wednesday, December 2, 2015 1:30pm 3:30pm Participants: Name Title Organization Email Tammy White Principal Sunset Park Elementary twhite@rhmail.org Jaime Cochrane Assistant Principal Sunset Park Elementary jcochrane@rhmail.org Sabrina Bundy PE Teacher Sunset Park Elementary sbundy@rhmail.org LaShawn Matthews Guidance Counselor Sunset Park Elementary lmatthews@rhmail.org Jill Watts Assistant in Safety and Security Office Rock Hill School District jwatts@rhmail.org Mary Hope Leader Sunset Park Neighborhood Association Sandra Oborokumo City Councilmember - Ward 1 City of Rock Hill Sandra.Oborokumo@cityofrockhill.com Clif Goolsby Transportation Engineer City of Rock Hill Clifton.Goolsby@cityofrockhill.com Dorene Boular Neighborhood Coordinator City of Rock Hill dorene.boular@cityofrockhill.com Erin Musiol Long Range Planner City of Rock Hill erin.musiol@cityofrockhill.com Amy Jones Detective City of Rock Hill Police Department amy.jones@cityofrockhill.com Allison Love Transportation Planner York County allison.love@yorkcountygov.com Dave Keely Advocacy Chair Eat Smart Move More York County dfkeely3@gmail.com Marilyn Hakim Communications Chair Eat Smart Move More York County momrockhill@aol.com Neal Martin Division of Injury and Violence Prevention DHEC martinco@dhec.sc.gov Mark Faulk School Operations Coordinator SCDOT faulkkm@scdot.org Rodney Oldham SRTS State Coordinator SCDOT oldhamr@scdot.org Terry B. Morris District 4 SCDOT morristb@scdot.org Greg Shaw District 4 SCDOT shawmg@scdot.org Mac Thomas Parent Rock Hill Fire Department mac.thomas@cityofrockhill.gov Nicole Brown McAden School Outreach Coordinator SC SRTS Resource Center nicole@scsaferoutes.org

Safe Routes to School Involvement: Sunset Park Center for Accelerated Studies (Sunset Park) is a new partner in the SRTS Resource Center Partnership Program, enrolling in August 2015. The school has a high number of walkers and is interested in improving the level of safety for these students. Existing Procedures and Behavior: Sunset Park has approximately 446 students in grades K-5. There are currently 50 students who walk or bicycle to school. However, the school is also a school of choice and 48% of the student population lives outside of the school zone boundaries. The school conducted SRTS Student Travel Tallies in September 2015. These survey findings indicated the following transportation modes: Transportation Mode Morning Travel Afternoon Travel Walk 5% 8% Bus 21% 29% Car 69% 51% Carpool 5% 6% Other/Public Transit/Day Care Van 0.1% 6.3% Arrival Procedures 6:50am Students begin arriving at the school o Bus riders are dropped off in the front loop, accessing the campus through the first driveway when heading northwest on Barnes Street off Ogden Road There are 4 buses serving students at Sunset Park The bus loop is supervised by two staff members This loop is also the entrance for the staff and visitor parking area The portion of the loop that is used by the buses is coned off in order to keep cars from entering the drop-off/pick-up bus zone Buses are done dropping off by 7:00am 7:00am Students are allowed to enter the building o Car riders access campus in the newly constructed side loop via the second driveway when heading northwest on Barnes Street off Ogden Road The flow of traffic into the loop is supposed to only come from cars turning right off of Friedheim Road and then right again off of Barnes Street that way traffic does not back up onto Ogden Road from cars waiting to turn left off of Barnes Street into the parent loop

The Parent Loop is supervised by one staff member and 6 safety patrols There are 10 minute visitor parking spots in the middle of the parent loop. A parent with a child in a wheelchair currently parks here in the mornings to unload and escort their child into the school. Drivers are instructed to pull up to the starting point of the unloading zone by sandwich board signs. There are also signs indicated to only unload curbside. Additionally, the sidewalk contains painted circles to indicate safety patrol stations. o Walkers and bike riders access the campus from 2 directions Walkers and bike riders approaching the campus via Barnes Street and traveling southwest on Ogden Road utilize the crossing guard at the intersection of Barnes Street and Ogden Road and then access the sidewalk that cuts through the front lawn and crosses the bus loop The crossing guard at this intersection is employed by the Rock Hill School District and is on site in the mornings from 6:45am-7:45am. She is equipped with a reflecting safety vest and a reflective stop paddle with flashing lights

A small group, two students and their guardians, access the campus via the crosswalk across Ogden Road at the bus loop exit 7:40am Bell rings 7:45am Students are now tardy and must be escorted into the front office by their parent to sign in Dismissal Procedures 2:25pm School dismisses with a staggered procedure in the following order: walkers/bike riders, car riders, bus riders o Walkers and bike riders are dismissed first The students that use the crosswalk across Ogden Road at the bus loop exit are met in the office by their guardians to walk home On the afternoon of December 2, 2015, two students and their caregivers were observed walking home along this route The students traveling home via Barnes Street and northeast along Ogden Road meet at the 4 th grade wing hallway and are escorted across Barnes Street by six school staff members. This is a moderately safe crossing due to the fact that cars are not supposed to be turning left off of Barnes Street and into the parent loop The crossing guard assisted the students across Barnes Street and escorted the group down to the Barnes Street and Ogden Road intersection. The students line up according to the direction they are heading either straight across Ogden Road to continue down Barnes Street or northeast along Ogden Road o The crossing guard is onsite from 2:15pm-2:40pm Students who are in grades K-2 must either walk home with an older sibling, or be met by a guardian with a blue tag in order to sign out the student Many parents who are registered as car riders park along Barnes Street and walk up to pick up their children On the afternoon of December 2, 2015, there were 29 walkers and two bike riders. Two of the younger walkers were not met by a parent and were escorted into the main office to be picked up o Cars dismiss after walkers have cleared campus Cars have hang-tags that display students names. Students wait inside the school until they have been called Ten cars are in the loading zone at a time Cars single-stack in the loading zone. The outside lane is only used for passing Nine safety patrols and four staff members supervise dismissal On the afternoon of December 2, 2015, eighty cars were observed pulling into the parent loop. The cars did not back out onto Barnes Street o Buses and day care vans are dismissed third. Eight day care programs serve students at Sunset Park. The day care vans and buses double-stack in the bus loop loading area. On the afternoon of December 2, 2015, the first bus arrived at 2:04pm and the last bus arrived at 2:35pm. 2:45pm The school is clear and dismissal has finished. Any children still on campus have to wait inside the office for their parent to pick them up Approximately 90 students attend an on-site after school care program

Occupant Restraint Observation Results: The team conducted an observation on the afternoon of December 2, 2015, observing use of occupant restraints and child passenger safety. The results included: 57 drivers picking up children were observed wearing their seat belt 15 drivers picking up children were observed not wearing their seat belt 18 students in the front passenger seat were observed wearing their seat belt when leaving the parent pick-up loop 17 students in the front passenger seat were observed not wearing their seat belt when leaving the parent pick-up loop 11 students in the back seat were observed wearing their seat belt when leaving the parent pick-up loop 46 students in the back seat were observed not wearing their seat belt when leaving the parent pick-up loop 8 child safety seats were observed being used in the parent pick-up loop 11 students were observed leaving the school campus completely unrestrained Important statistics: The driver s side air bag deploys at over 140 mph The passenger side air bag deploys at over 200 mph Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat Best practices indicate that children under 4'9" and 80 pounds should ride in a booster seat An average traffic ticket for improper/or lack of child safety restraints is around $330 Existing Infrastructure:

A. There is not a sidewalk along Friedheim Road. There are School Crossing signs. B. Friedheim Park is 0.5 miles from Sunset Park. There is sidewalk along the entire stretch from the school to the park on the south side of Ogden Road. The parking lot is large enough to accommodate a Park and Walk location.

C. The speed limit on Ogden Road is 35mph. There is a school zone speed limit sign with flashers that reduces the speed limit to 25mph when flashing, which corresponds to the school s arrival and dismissal times, for traffic traveling south west on Ogden Road. There is also a School Ahead sign.

D. At the intersection of Ogden Road and Barnes Street there are standard crosswalks across both legs of Ogden Road and there is a standard crosswalk across the north leg of Barnes Street. These are not high-visibility crosswalks and there are not any ADA compliant ramps. There are stop bars to show drivers where they should stop when pedestrians are in the crosswalk and there is a street light at this intersection. The crosswalk across the south west leg of Ogden Road does not connect with a sidewalk (shown bottom right). Lastly, there are School Crossing signs with downward pointing arrows.

E. The crossing guard and staff members escort the walkers across Barnes Street F. The parent loop is a new addition to the campus. There is a sign prohibiting left-hand turns into the parent loop from Barnes Street. The driveway has two lanes entering the loop, but cars single-stack in the loading zone, leaving the outside lane for passing. Additionally, there is a swing gate that closes this loop from 8:00am-1:30pm while students use the field for recess.

G. There are visitor spots along the center of the parent loop and a curb-cut leading to those spots. There are two lanes in the loop, but cars single-stack in the loading zone. Parents are then informed via a sign to merge into a single lane when exiting the loop s loading/unloading zone. H. There is a crosswalk across the bus loop that connects to the sidewalk that walkers use to get to Barnes Street. The crosswalk has high-visibility markings, but does not have ADA compliant ramps. There is also a bike rack in this area of the school.

I. There is a crosswalk across Ogden Road at the bus loop exit. It has high-visibility markings, ADA compliant ramps, and marked with School Crossing signs with downward pointing arrows. Perhaps due to the rain, there is a hole in the ground where the sidewalk connects to the crosswalk on the opposite side of the school. This could create an unsafe condition for pedestrians while walking or riding bikes. J. Traffic traveling northeast on Ogden Road is alerted to be cautious with three high-visibility signs: a Share The Road sign, a School Ahead sign, and a 25mph school zone speed limit sign with flashers. K. The speed limit for traffic traveling north on Heckle Boulevard is 45mph. There is a school zone speed limit sign with flashers that reduces the speed limit to 30mph when flashing, which corresponds to the school s arrival and dismissal times.

L. There are no sidewalks that connect Sunset Park to Heckle Boulevard. However, at the Ogden Road and Heckle Boulevard intersection, there are pedestrian push-button activators. The push-button for crossing Ogden Road on the east side of Heckle Boulevard signals a light change to accommodate pedestrian crossings (bottom left). The push-button for crossing Heckle Boulevard on the west side of Ogden Road has a sign that says it will activate a walk signal but there are not any pedestrian signals at this intersection (bottom right). There is only one crosswalk and it is a standard marked crosswalk that crosses Heckle Boulevard on the west side of Ogden Road. It is accompanied by School Crossing signage with downward pointing arrows.

M. The speed limit for traffic traveling south on Heckle Boulevard is 45mph. There is a school zone speed limit sign with flashers that reduces the speed limit to 30mph when flashing, which corresponds to the school s arrival and dismissal times. There is also a School Crossing sign. Opportunities: Some recommendations for safety, ways to improve connectivity, and ideas to encourage walking and bicycling that were discussed within the group included: 1. Consider providing passenger safety education and encouraging proper seat belt usage, the school may: a. Implement the following school policies for dismissal: i. As students are waiting to load into their cars, repeat that they should have their back-packs OFF and ready to stow. Explain that wearing their backpack while getting into the car will make it more difficult to get their seatbelt on quickly. ii. Staff and safety patrols should remind students to buckle-up before leaving school campus. Get students to create colorful signs to post in the pick-up loops, or have students hold the signs while at the parent loop. iii. Remind staff, students and parents that the safest place to ride in a car is in the back seat and those students younger than 13 years old should be riding in the back. b. Contact Safe Kids York County (Robert White, robertd.white@tenethealth.com) and/or SC DHEC (Neal Martin, martinco@dhec.sc.gov) to provide presentations to students and parents about seatbelt and booster seat usage or schedule a safety seat check. i. Print safety facts on the back of the car hang tags used in the parent loop. ii. Provide a presentation at a PTA meeting. iii. Measure the height and weight of each student. Send home to parents with booster seat best practices.

iv. Schedule a follow-up observation to survey child passenger safety usage once some education efforts have been implemented. Compare results to see if child passenger safety has improved. c. Implement a policy that the Safety Patrols and staff members must only open the back doors to cars when loading during dismissal. d. Install Buckle-Up It s State Law at campus exit points. 2. Consider increasing the number of faculty members in the parent loop during dismissal, with a priority of stationing a staff member at loading zone station 1 with a Stop/Slow paddle and a reflective, tear-away safety vest. This person can also help keep an eye on passing and stop traffic if a parent is attempting to reverse out of a 10 minute parking spot. 3. Due to the speed of traffic in the parent loop, consider holding all cars in the loading zone until all ten cars have loaded, and then release them all at once while pulling up the next ten cars into the loading zone. This may eliminate any gaps in traffic flow which are allowing for space to pick up speed. 4. Consider implementing an Anti-Idling program. Details on DHEC s Breathe Better program can be found here: http://www.scdhec.gov/homeandenvironment/k12schoolsstudentsteachers/b2breathebet terprogram/overviewb2/ 5. Install Cell Phone Free Zone signage in the parent loop. 6. Provide staff working in the drop-off/pick-up loop and escorting students to Ogden Road with reflective, tear-away safety vests and Stop/Slow paddles (preferably the flashing paddle). 7. Consider promoting Friedheim Park as a Park and Walk site for parents to park and walk with their children to and from school. Another location may be the small church nearby on Ogden Road. 8. If these options are popular, consider establishing a Walking School Bus program from these locations. Walking School Buses often help alleviate safety concerns by putting more responsible eyes on the transportation process. Click on the link to learn more about a Walking School Bus and how to start one (http://guide.saferoutesinfo.org/walking_school_bus/index.cfm). Contact The SC SRTS Resource Center (Nicole Brown, Nicole@scsaferoutes.org) to schedule a Walking School Bus Information Session for parents to learn more. 9. Consider working with the SCDOT District 4 Office, York County, and the City of Rock Hill to install high-visibility crosswalks and ADA compliant curb-cuts at the Ogden Road and Barnes Street intersection. 10. Consider working with York County to improve biking conditions along the York County Bike Route on Ogden Road. 11. Consider working with the SCDOT District 4 Engineering Office and the City of Rock Hill to have No Parking Anytime signs (with arrows pointing right and left) placed along Barnes Street near the Ogden Road intersection. Work with the local police to enforce these signs. (Note: Through coordination between the City of Rock Hill and the SCDOT District 4 Office, the city has contacted the property owner on Barnes Street across from the school. Therefore, SCDOT is sending out a plan to have their maintenance forces install No Parking Anytime signs (with arrows pointing right and left). The plan also includes installing a crosswalk sign with downward pointing arrow for eastbound Ogden Road and marking high visibility markings in both crosswalks on Ogden Road. SCDOT s Maintenance Office will complete the work as their schedule permits). 12. Request that the SCDOT District 4 Office work the City of Rock Hill and the Rock Hill School District to evaluate the need of the No Left Turn signage into the school parent loop. (Note: Based on a follow-up review by SCDOT District 4 Office, the existing No Left-turn sign was determined to be appropriate provided a time plate be added indicating

specific AM and PM hours of prohibition. The SCDOT office has contacted Principal White to confirm the times that will be shown on a supplemental plaque to be placed under the existing No Left-turn. SCDOT does believe that it would also be a good idea for the school to redistribute the circulation plan). 13. Ensure the fire department has a key to the parent loop gate in the case of an emergency. 14. Consider working with the Rock Hill School District to install ADA compliant curb-cuts at the crosswalk across the bus loop. 15. Consider working with the Rock Hill School District to move the bike rack to a concrete surface in order to prevent students from having to walk in the mud to access their bike in the event of rain. 16. Work with the SCDOT District 4 Maintenance Office to assess the hole in the ground at the location where the sidewalk and crosswalk connect at Ogden Road. (Note: SCDOT District 4 Office is working on a possible solution). 17. As a long-term goal, consider working with the SCDOT District 4 Office, the City of Rock Hill, and York County to install a sidewalk to connect to Heckle Boulevard. 18. As a long-term goal, consider working with the SCDOT District 4 Office and the City of Rock Hill to install a sidewalk on Friedheim Road. 19. Request that the SCDOT District 4 Office update the signage at the intersection of Heckle Boulevard and Ogden Road regarding the pedestrian signals. (Note: SCDOT District 4 Office has contacted City Signal Maintenance personnel to work on correcting the sign and pushbutton situation). 20. Consider working with the SCDOT District 4 Office to evaluate the school zone speed limit signs on Heckle Boulevard. (Note: Based on a follow-up review by SCDOT District 4 Office, it was confirmed that no students walk on Ogden Road crossing Heckle Boulevard. For this reason and because the intersection of Ogden Road and Heckle Boulevard is already signalized, the School Speed Limit flashers are not recommended on Heckle Boulevard and the SCDOT is proceeding with the removal process. If a sidewalk is built along this portion of Ogden Road connecting to sidewalk on Heckle Boulevard, and if crossing Heckle Boulevard becomes a designated school crossing, SCDOT can immediately install Pedestrian Signal Heads and mark a high visibility crosswalk with signage at the intersection of Ogden Road and Heckle Boulevard. School Speed Limit flashers would not likely be needed for this possible future situation but it could be re-evaluated at that time). 21. Consider creating walking route maps for students and distribute them at the beginning of the school year. These maps could help promote the Park and Walk or Park and Ride sites. 22. Consider contacting Safe Kids York County (Robert White, robertd.white@tenethealth.com) about bicycle safety and helmet safety education. 23. Consider working with your staff to implement the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration s (NHTSA) child pedestrian safety curriculum. a. The curriculum can be downloaded here: http://scsaferoutes.org/resources/education b. Contact the SC SRTS Resource Center (Nicole Brown, Nicole@scsaferoutes.org) to schedule a train the trainer session to use the curriculum during a faculty meeting. 24. Provide bicycle and pedestrian safety education to students. Options may include guest speakers and assemblies, bicycle rodeos, and safety education curricula.