Winchester School Traffic Study Plan

Traffic and parking has become a much-discussed topic in Winchester.has been an issue that is being talked about, and traffic could increase around Winchester when the Massachusetts Department of Transportation replaces 14 bridges along

In every town parking and traffic is always a concern, especially around schools. The School Department recently hired Doug Prentiss of Fay, Spofford & Thorndike (FST) to look at ways Winchester could improve traffic and parking problems around the schools.

Here’s a look at some of the suggestions from Prentiss:

• There are no crosswalks on Skillings Road near the entrance of the school, but there’s one 300-feet away. However, that is not handicap accessible.
• There’s no physical identification that the high school is in a school zone.
• A lot of the signage is poor or confusing.
• High School students rarely use the parking lot opposite the field, instead, opting to park along Skillings or Shore Road.

• Move the drop-off/pick-up to the rear of the school along Mystic Valley where the parking lot is.
• Widen the rear parking lot, which Town Engineer Beth Rudolph said would be possible when Manchester Field is rebuilt. This would allow for better traffic flow.
• Angle parking in the rear of the parking lot.
• Need to improve the Washington Street/Main Street/Mt. Pleasant Street intersection – one suggestion was to use the rear lot.

• Make all signs consistent and update existing signs, as many of them have lost their reflectivity.
• The crosswalk between McCall and Lincoln is not ADA complient.
• Parents double-park along Washington Street and students walk across the street, and are not in the crosswalk.
• Remove the crosswalk on Washington Street, north of Winthrop and instruct students to use the crosswalk at Mystic Valley, where there’s a crossing guard.

• There’s a crosswalk on the north side of High Street, but there are no handicap ramps.
• Parents make u-turns on the street after students are dropped off, and parents park along High Street to drop students off. It’s recommended that no parking be allowed on the south side of High Steet.
• Work with the Sanborn House to see what to do with their parking lot.
• There’s no posted speed limit on High Street that it should be 20 mph during school hours. The average speed on the road during the day is 38 mph.

• There is no stop sign or stop line on the Brantwood Road approach to Pond Street.
• There’s a four-foot tall bollard at the Brantwood Road entrance that restricts mobility, and could be problematic for emergency vehicles.
• There’s a crosswalk at the intersection of Horn Pond Brook and Royal Street, but no handicap ramps.

• Parents aren’t allowed to turn left onto Washington Street from Bates Road during school pick-up/drop-off times, instead, some vehicles turn onto side streets to turn around.
• There are no handicap ramps in the area of the Irving Street connection to the school.
• Better signage at the entrance by Bates Road, so visitors understand how the parking pattern works.
  

• There’s very limited indication to drivers that they are entering a school zone. The flashing school beacon is too close to the school to warn drivers that they are entering a school zone.
• Johnson Road and the Ridge Street intersection has a high accident location, according to MassDOT.
• Vehicles are parked along Johnson Road and students cross the street randomly.
• The average speed of cars driving along Johnson was 39 mph. The posted speed limit is 20 mph.

The department will also need to look at the Parkhurst School, since Vinson-Owen students will be attending that facility next September, while a new elementary school is being built.