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Oakwood Intermediate Pickup / Dropoff Fiasco

3,444 Views | 24 Replies | Last: 5 mo ago by nthomas99
nthomas99
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4:13p, 8/23/24
AG
So apparently our local government overlords told the school two weeks before class started that they could not use the side of the school for cars that is literally designed exactly for that. Instead, it takes over half an hour to get my child every day from school from the single lane on the other side of the school, that was clearly not designed for such a volume of automobiles. All because we needed a bike lane apparently.

This is as ridiculous as medians, The staff at the school are being total rockstars, trying to make it work, but can'tthe city just admit they screwed up and roll back the decision? Unfortunately, I don't think that's happening.

Anyone else enjoying the circus?
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JMac03
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4:20p, 8/23/24
AG
We have moved on from there, but we used to go park in the high school parking lot and my kiddo would walk over. Is that an option?
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nthomas99
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In reply to JMac03 • 4:23p, 8/23/24
AG
Maybe. But I don't think they're letting any kids exit that side of the school.

I'm on my third kid going through that campus now, you used to be able to get in and out in a few minutes there
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JMac03
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In reply to etmydst • 6:37p, 8/23/24
AG
The bigger issue I see is on the the pickup/drop off for AMCMS. The poor A&M busses cannot get by for periods of time to turn onto that road because of all the cars lined up. Luckily we are at the high school now.
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to nthomas99 • 7:21p, 8/23/24
You want the city to admit they did something wrong?

Are you a new resident? They will double down on it being right before ever admitting fault.
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nthomas99
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In reply to maroon barchetta • 7:46p, 8/23/24
AG
Yeah, I know. I've been here almost 30 years.
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BCSWguru
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7:57p, 8/23/24
nothing a bond issue cant solve
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nthomas99
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In reply to BCSWguru • 7:59p, 8/23/24
AG
But those apparently take three votes to get forced upon voters these days and my kid will be gone by then (to be clear, I think most of what was in the recent bond was good, Like most voters, I just hate the way they grouped it all together)
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nthomas99
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In reply to etmydst • 8:51p, 8/23/24
AG
Have you seen the traffic issues that have been created based on how they're doing it now? It's dangerous and completely overloads the neighborhood now. That area is even more dangerous for bikers now (and everyone else). And make it even comically worse with road construction scheduled on neighborhood roads at the same time.

Decision was clearly made without any thought to the consequences. It's unthinkable that the city didn't even bother to tell the school about it until right before the semester.

Completely clear that there are conflicting priorities, And it's not just about me. I've got to think they are plenty of people like me who have multiple kids at multiple campuses that all get out at the same time (I have three, and historically at least two of those were combined with Oakwood/AMCMS). Even with one home sick, my son got to hang out in the rain for 30 minutes today at the high school waiting for me to escape the mess.

And as to the planning of the school, those campuses were built in an entirely different era of the city. Sure fix the problem, but do the work to think holistically and not just create another one
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etmydst
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In reply to nthomas99 • 9:13p, 8/23/24
AG
I can agree with most of that. In the OP you implied that the decision was without merit and made to opress the school.

It's obviously not an easy decision.

However, as a driver along Bush, I do think that those few people that chose to buy a house near a school should deal with school traffic, not the thousands of drivers on a major roadway.
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nthomas99
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9:30p, 8/23/24
AG
Fair enough. Though, like I said above, I've lived in this town for just shy of 30 years. For the first 25, I went to tamu and then worked on campus (without kids going to school there) and I honestly never really noticed or was bothered by the school traffic there.
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gunan01
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10:18p, 8/23/24
AG
Where did you hear the bike lane was the reason for the change?

I heard (all rumor) the reason for change was because there were several near miss automobile vs pedestrian accidents on Holik due to kids playing football after school in the grass in front of the school.
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nthomas99
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In reply to gunan01 • 10:41p, 8/23/24
AG
This was communicated by leadership at the campus during orientation.
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woodiewood
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In reply to etmydst • 5:48a, 8/24/24

I drive down GB at prime school release every day and although I am slowed perhaps three to four minutes by the cars waiting in the bike lane and the 30 mph speed limit, I never have considered it a big deal as situations such as this come with the territory of living in a city. Two lanes of traffic still flow still go in each direction. Never seen any cars in the middle of the roadway.

For the hour or so of school release time, bikers could easily cross over to the north side of GB at lights at Dexter or Timber and cross back over at the Anderson light causing perhaps a 5 minute increase in their travel time.

Sometimes, people need to learn to accept non-optimal situations in life, it's called having a sense of community.....don't major in the minors.

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Law361
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In reply to JMac03 • 8:00a, 8/24/24
AG
We did that the past two years, and they have not allowed it this year. Very frustrating.
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Chrundle the Great
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9:17a, 8/24/24
AG
The city is about to put up some kind of bike lane barrier so maybe the change is in anticipation of that

https://www.kbtx.com/2023/03/21/city-college-station-takes-next-steps-separated-bicycle-lane-project/?outputType=amp
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iisanaggie
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10:50a, 8/24/24
AG
If, in fact, the school or district was not notified of the changes, this is another great example of all parties not being in the discussion. So many problems in our community could be fixed (or stopped before there was a problem) if there was good communication.

Just like the paid parking situation this summer, the affected residents weren't even consulted.

This should be another one that Yancy could weigh in on. As a council member, he gets angry emails and calls when things like this happen. I hope our council will be better advocates for the citizens they are serving and work with city employees to ensure that all affected parties are consulted, or at least notified, when these projects are implemented.
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to iisanaggie • 11:19a, 8/24/24
They like to communicate after the fact.
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Buford T. Justice
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11:56a, 8/24/24
AG
How many of you remember when the north side of Bush was a linear parking lot?
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to Buford T. Justice • 12:40p, 8/24/24
Buford T. Justice said:
How many of you remember when the north side of Bush was a linear parking lot?


You mean Jersey?
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etmydst
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In reply to woodiewood • 10:35p, 8/24/24
AG
It's illegal:

Sec. 38-44. - Parking in bike lanes.
Parking, stopping or standing in bike lanes is expressly prohibited unless the City hereby designates certain sections of streets where parking is permitted in a bike lane on a limited basis during specified times as follows: Anderson Street from Park Place to Holleman Drive, weekdays from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and on weekends.

https://library.municode.com/tx/college_station/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=SPAGEOR_CH38TRVE_ARTIISTSTPA_DIV1GE_S38-44PABILA
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birdman
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4:12a, 8/26/24
The AMCMS and Oakwood area has been a mess for years. If the OP was complaining about 30 minutes, I'd say get used to it. That seems like what I experienced for six years. It was poorly designed and poorly run on q daily basis.

If they are shutting down ways to get there, it will only get worse. I could see it taking 45 minutes typically and an hour on rainy days.

As bad as that is, it's still fast that the kids taking the bus.
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Smeghead4761
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In reply to birdman • 6:03a, 8/26/24
birdman said:
The AMCMS and Oakwood area has been a mess for years. If the OP was complaining about 30 minutes, I'd say get used to it. That seems like what I experienced for six years. It was poorly designed and poorly run on q daily basis.

If they are shutting down ways to get there, it will only get worse. I could see it taking 45 minutes typically and an hour on rainy days.

As bad as that is, it's still fast that the kids taking the bus.
Tell me about it. One of my kids (SFA in BISD) takes an hour and a half to an hour forty five to get home on bus. What's really annoying is the official schedule says just under 30 minutes. Two weeks in, and they have yet to get within an hour of that.

Now, this may be a dumb question, but why don't more kids ride bikes to school? (It won't work for my kids - bicycling on 1179 is not a safe option). I rode my bike to school from grades 2-5 (just over a mile, city streets and sidewalks) and high school (again, about a mile, straight down a major road), and also as an undergrad (at a different school) and in grad school at A&M (from near Rock Prairie Elementary). Is it just another symptom of the overall lowering of risk tolerance in society, or what

FWIW, the most dangerous part of my ride to A&M was going by Consol at drop off time in the morning. One time a kid decided to jump out the passenger side while their parent was sitting in the line. Opened the door into the bike lane right in front of me. I wore a helmet religiously after that.
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Grmpy
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In reply to Smeghead4761 • 10:02a, 8/26/24
Smeghead4761 said:
birdman said:
The AMCMS and Oakwood area has been a mess for years. If the OP was complaining about 30 minutes, I'd say get used to it. That seems like what I experienced for six years. It was poorly designed and poorly run on q daily basis.

If they are shutting down ways to get there, it will only get worse. I could see it taking 45 minutes typically and an hour on rainy days.

As bad as that is, it's still fast that the kids taking the bus.
Tell me about it. One of my kids (SFA in BISD) takes an hour and a half to an hour forty five to get home on bus. What's really annoying is the official schedule says just under 30 minutes. Two weeks in, and they have yet to get within an hour of that.

Now, this may be a dumb question, but why don't more kids ride bikes to school? (It won't work for my kids - bicycling on 1179 is not a safe option). I rode my bike to school from grades 2-5 (just over a mile, city streets and sidewalks) and high school (again, about a mile, straight down a major road), and also as an undergrad (at a different school) and in grad school at A&M (from near Rock Prairie Elementary). Is it just another symptom of the overall lowering of risk tolerance in society, or what

FWIW, the most dangerous part of my ride to A&M was going by Consol at drop off time in the morning. One time a kid decided to jump out the passenger side while their parent was sitting in the line. Opened the door into the bike lane right in front of me. I wore a helmet religiously after that.
I think most parents don't trust the safety of the kid now days. I remember riding a bike all over a rural community; however the world is not the same as that time.
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nthomas99
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In reply to Grmpy • 10:45a, 8/26/24
AG
Grmpy said:
Smeghead4761 said:
birdman said:
The AMCMS and Oakwood area has been a mess for years. If the OP was complaining about 30 minutes, I'd say get used to it. That seems like what I experienced for six years. It was poorly designed and poorly run on q daily basis.

If they are shutting down ways to get there, it will only get worse. I could see it taking 45 minutes typically and an hour on rainy days.

As bad as that is, it's still fast that the kids taking the bus.
Tell me about it. One of my kids (SFA in BISD) takes an hour and a half to an hour forty five to get home on bus. What's really annoying is the official schedule says just under 30 minutes. Two weeks in, and they have yet to get within an hour of that.

Now, this may be a dumb question, but why don't more kids ride bikes to school? (It won't work for my kids - bicycling on 1179 is not a safe option). I rode my bike to school from grades 2-5 (just over a mile, city streets and sidewalks) and high school (again, about a mile, straight down a major road), and also as an undergrad (at a different school) and in grad school at A&M (from near Rock Prairie Elementary). Is it just another symptom of the overall lowering of risk tolerance in society, or what

FWIW, the most dangerous part of my ride to A&M was going by Consol at drop off time in the morning. One time a kid decided to jump out the passenger side while their parent was sitting in the line. Opened the door into the bike lane right in front of me. I wore a helmet religiously after that.
I think most parents don't trust the safety of the kid now days. I remember riding a bike all over a rural community; however the world is not the same as that time.

Fair question about letting kids find they're way home. I

'd love that but CSISD in their infinite zoning wisdom has my my neighborhood Peach Crossing (aka the southernmost point of the school district) zoned to the northern most campus intermediate/middle school campuses. But that's a whole other rant.... Works out fine for us because my wife works at TAMU, but otherwise my kids would be riding buses for half the day or riding bikes the whole day
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