KGHS access road under construction
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- Published on Wednesday, 24 October 2012 14:03
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Road is for pedestrians and emergency vehicles
The King George School Board received a recent status report on a project under construction for an access road between King George High School and King George Middle School.
The report was by project manager Dave Barlow from CHA, Inc., who provided details at a School Board meeting on Oct. 10.
PURPOSE
Barlow explained the purpose of the road, saying it was designed for pedestrian traffic for those who use overflow parking for sporting and other events held at the high school.
It will also accommodate emergency vehicles, in the event it is needed.
“Parking is always an issue at a stadium, and there are a number of spaces at the middle school which would really be unused,” Barlow said. “So the thinking was that the parking at the middle school could really be overflow, and we’d provide a safe path for someone to get from the parking lot to the high school.”
Barlow said the route of the access road will go from the back corner of the high school parking lot, and run in between the tennis courts and a storm water management pond. Near the corner of the former vocational building, the road will tie into the existing gravel service road that runs to the track.
Barlow said the road will be about 400 feet long and will total about 20 feet wide. That includes a 12-foot width of asphalt pavement with gravel shoulders. The primary purpose is intended for pedestrians, although Barlow said it is sized, both width-wise and structurally, so a service vehicle can drive through.
Under the contract, two steel-filled concrete bollards will be installed with a locked chain at the end of the road nearest the middle school.
Those are designed to restrict access by vehicle traffic. Barlow said he expected it to have a breakaway chain in the event of an emergency and an emergency vehicle had to get through to one or the other to the two schools.
He noted that alternate routes were considered. Barlow said there is not enough school property to have routed the road in front of the tennis courts, and they did not want it to run it between the tennis courts and vocational building.
He said the county intends to also have pedestrian lights installed under its municipal agreement with Dominion Power.
The access road was originally intended to be bid as part of the high school contract, but Travis Quesenberry, county administrator suggested it be bid separately to save money, which happened, since it came in considerably under the $90,000 budgeted.
The Board of Supervisors approved a construction bid of $54,000 to DeBernard Construction on Aug. 21. The contract calls for substantial completion to be achieved in 75 days, with another 30 days to achieve final completion. The Notice to Proceed was issued by the county on Sept. 25.
Phyllis Cook
