Prairie parking lot gets perked up

• Parking lot

Brian Korthals/Daily Globe The reconstructed south parking lot at Prairie Elementary has been marked and landscaping is being finished up around the perimeter.

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WORTHINGTON — The recently reconstructed southeast parking lot at Worthington’s Prairie Elementary will pave the way to smoother entries for parents and teachers of the school’s nearly 1,100 students.

In 2001, Prairie Elementary first opened its doors to kindergarten through fifth-grade students, and at that time, the blacktop parking lot used primarily by staff and visitors was new and apparently more than adequate.

“Normally, we would have expected the lot to last a lot longer, but moisture was causing major problems,” clarified Dave Skog, District 518’s Director of Management Services. “We didn’t believe a simple resurfacing would solve the issues, so we were forced to re-do the whole lot.”

Skog said problems resulted from settlement, standing water in low areas and adjacent sidewalks heaving from freeze and thaw cycles.

During rain systems, large puddles were created, making it difficult for pedestrians to arrive at the school’s doors without soaked shoes, and in the winter, large and unpredictably situated sheets of ice made the parking lot treacherous.

“We were concerned for the safety of employees, students and visitors,” said Skog.

“The safety of everyone using the parking lot was the biggest issue for me,” reiterated Josh Noble, principal of Prairie Elementary. “Over time, we’ve had a few staff, parents and even grandparents take some wipeouts coming in. The lot was an accident waiting to happen.”

Skog explained that when it was determined the lot needed to be reconstructed, bids were let for both blacktop and concrete.

“The concrete bid came in very close to the blacktop, so we opted for that,” Skog said, adding that concrete generally lasts longer than blacktop and requires less maintenance (resurfacing, seal coating, etc.).

“If there does happen to be a problem with a single area of the new parking lot, it can be cut out and replaced, and that is much more difficult to do with blacktop,” noted Skog.

Part of the construction process, which began in mid-July and ended when the lot was re-opened to school traffic last Friday, was adding catch basins and tiling “to get the moisture away and to hopefully prevent similar problems in the future,” shared Skog.

Local contractors performed the tiling and construction work for the project.

Noble, for one, is very pleased with the outcome, and is hopeful the lot’s new alignment (which eliminated about 10 office staff parking spaces close to the building in favor of an expanded drop-off area for individual vehicles; buses deposit students in a lot on the building’s west side) will improve the drop-off process for families.

“We hope this will make the morning drop-off a smoother transition for everyone,” Noble said. “We allowed for more access and it should now be possible for 10 to 12 cars to drop off kids at one time; previously, only five to six cars could.

“The yellow line indicating the zone for safe drop-off is a lot longer now.”

Skog said the lot has about 150 parking stalls, which is roughly equivalent to the “before” number.

“A little bit of the plaza space leading up to the building was eliminated, because we were trying to get closer to the building,” Skog said. “Vehicles will now come into the main driveway in two lanes, then merge into one for drop-off, to keep cars from backing up onto First Avenue — which was another safety issue.”

Beginning with the 2010-11 school year, rising District 518 enrollment caused fifth-graders to be moved to Worthington Middle School; even with that change, Prairie Elementary is slated to have about 1,150 kindergarten through fourth-grade students on site when school starts next Monday.

Despite available busing, many families still opt to drop off their kids, so Noble offers these suggestions.

“It’s important for parents to have their children ready to exit the vehicle when they reach the yellow zone for drop-off,” urged Noble. “Be patient with the car in front of you, but be cognizant of the car behind you. If you plan to walk your child in, use the left lane coming in to the parking lot, park, and then walk in with them.”

Although 8 a.m. seems to be the most popular drop-off time, Noble says much congestion can be reduced if drivers aim to arrive at Prairie either a little before or after that magic hour.

“I know it’s hard in the morning, but arriving with your child at either 7:50 a.m. or else at 8:05 or 8:10 a.m. works better,” said Noble, noting that the school prefers students not be brought to school before 7:45 a.m.

“The tardy bell is at 8:20 a.m., so if your child isn’t eating breakfast at school — then they should arrive by at least 8:05 a.m. — they can get there even at 8:15 a.m. and be right on time.”

Afternoon pick-up of students should operate much the same as in the past and is not affected by the new parking lot design.

“I’m excited to have everything done,” expressed Noble. “The lot was done right, by local contractors who care about it, and I think people will be really happy with it. I’m ready for the students to come through the door.”

As for Skog, he’s betting the new parking lot will serve Prairie far into the future, and far longer than the 10 years the initial blacktop lot provided.

Added Skog, “I’m hoping it will last a good long time.”

Tags: news, prairie, parking, lot