Traffic Study Summary and Link

Traffic Study Provides Path to Increased Student Safety 

The safety of students on 15th Avenue and in front of Rawson has been identified as a concern by our community for years.  In response to increasing the safety measures for students, SDSM engaged RaSmith, a traffic engineering firm, to conduct a study to analyze the challenges of our drop-off and pick-up patterns and how to route traffic best and add safety measures to help solve the problem.  They observed and measured traffic over multiple days in May 2024. The engineers found several challenges to our signage and our driving habits on 15th Avenue. Near Rawson, the engineers found students who needed more assistance crossing the streets safely and significant congestion in the parking lot.

We are working closely with the city and our police department on many suggestions, which will come later in the spring and into next summer.  For now, we have started with revising some traffic patterns and placing additional support outside to help students get to and from school more safely.  

 

General recommendations include:

• Create high-visibility crosswalks at all intersections

• Improve signage and pavement markings

• Construct additional sidewalks

• Construct pinned-on concrete curb extensions at several locations

  • This could potentially be done as a demonstration/proof of concept

• Provide consistent on-street parking restrictions and signing throughout the area

 

High School recommendations include: 

• Stop using door #8 - promote use at door # 29

  • Circle driveway has enough capacity to accommodate increased traffic

• Close student access at door #9

• Align sidewalk and multi-use path along the parkway

• Construct a roundabout at 15th / parkway - long-term solution

• Construct gated access to the visitor/staff parking lot

• Do not create extensive drop-off zone in the HS student parking lot (combining the circle drive and the lot)

• Attempting to enforce traffic restrictions may not solve long-term issues

 

Middle School recommendations include:

• Make exiting the circle drive right turn only

• Signage and markings to prevent left turns from southbound 15th to the Circle Drive

• Possibility of making the backlot a circle drive 

• Do not extend/widen the circle drive

• Attempting to enforce traffic restrictions may not solve long-term issues

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Rawson Elementary recommendations include:

• Install a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon on Rawson / the circle driveway

• Construct a new sidewalk on the south side of Maple Street between 15th and west of the school door

• Mark a school zone along 15th Ave

• Consider making a drop-off zone on the north side of Rawson

• Consider creating a larger circle drive

• Do not create a pedestrian-only zone by Maple

Read the Study