Wisconsin Dells School Board members and district employees brainstormed on how to improve parking lot traffic flow and the safety of dropping off students at Spring Hill School and the high school at a buildings and grounds committee meeting Monday.

School board member Jesse Weaver said the parking lot and traffic around Spring Hill School has posed a dilemma since the school was built in 1991. Now that the district is considering an addition for the building, even more students and traffic will be drawn to the area, aggravating the problem, he said.

“I think it’s definitely worth the amount of complaints we continuously get to look further into it,” Weaver said.

Weaver had made a proposal at an earlier meeting that the district advertise for bids on constructing additional parking in back of Spring Hill School and the high school. Weaver said then that he’d like the cost of constructing the lot to be included in any referendum question to fund an addition that the school board might pose to the public.

Monday an additional parking lot was part of Weaver’s suggestion to improve traffic flow and safety at the schools.

One of his suggestions included routing traffic in a one-way pattern in through the Vine Street driveway entrance to Spring Hill School, up an incline and out through Iowa Street by the high school.

Committee member Bob McClyman predicted cars would have trouble climbing the hill leading to the high school in the winter snow. “I’ve seen buses stuck on it,” he said.

District Administrator Chuck Whitsell also raised questions about the proposal.

He said the high school students have to cross Iowa Street to enter the school from the student parking lot and routing much more traffic by the high school might be a hazard to them.

“But you’re also talking about 6- and 7-year-olds having to deal with oncoming cars,” Weaver said.

“I agree. I’m just trying to lay stuff out on the table,” Whitsell said.

Weaver said another advantage to creating a one-way traffic flow from Spring Hill School to the high school might be a reduction in the number of cars that line up in all directions at the intersection of Vine and Iowa streets. He said sometimes the line of traffic on Vine Street reaches quite a considerable distance toward Broadway.

But he said it’s a challenge to find the best solution, and he was considerate of the trouble emergency vehicles might have fighting traffic to get to either of the schools.

“This whole thing is a nightmare no matter how you look at it. God forbid if we ever have a major emergency out there,” he said.

The attendees at the meeting considered other options, too. The committee, comprised of Weaver, McClyman and Jim Rodwell, met with Whitsell, Dennis Draper, buildings and grounds maintenance supervisor, Ed Anen, transportation supervisor and Deb Michel, business manager.

It was suggested building an exit to the Spring Hill School parking lot onto Highway 16, but it was feared that the district wouldn’t be able to get permission to make an entrance there. The committee also considered excavating, hauling a lot of fill and making another entrance or exit to the Spring Hill School parking lot onto Vine Street in an area that is now a ravine. They talked about removing a turn around at the high school’s south entrance to make more room for traffic, but Whitsell said the area is needed for food service vehicle deliveries.

They talked about making a student drop off area at the front of the high school. They also talked about moving the visitor parking spaces at the Spring Hill School lot and making that area additional student drop off space. Another suggestion entailed assigning cars to one of two lanes at Spring Hill School parking lot: one lane for elementary school student drop offs and another for middle school drop offs. It was also considered whether painting parking stripes on the Spring Hill School parking lot in a different pattern would be an improvement.

The committee made no decisions. Whitsell said he would create maps of various traffic flow scenarios for the committee’s consideration. The committee will meet again to discuss the parking lot at 7 a.m. July 8 at the district’s central office.