Chesterbrook Elementary School Kiss and Ride -- Get to the back of the line!!

[Anonymous]

Exacerbating this problem is the fact that only maybe a quarter of households live west of the school. More than 3/4 of families are coming from the direction that requires a left turn into the lot. In the morning, when trying to get multiple kids to schools, get to work, appts, dealing with the general chaos of the morning, parents are then having to legally or otherwise u-turn to get in line. And with multiple cars coming from that direction all doing the same, well, now you have a seriously dangerous cluster f#*$.

Boundary map:
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/SY%202021-22%20Elementary%20School%20Boundaries.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kirby is a disaster with pick up times. Does principal even know?

A search on DCUM for Chesterbrook principal reveals a growing dissatisfaction with the current principal. She rarely goes outside herself and only allows kids to walk home with prior approval from her.

This has been the policy for more than ten years and predates the current Principal. It dates back to when the previous crossing guard retired and no one applied to replace him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kirby is a disaster with pick up times. Does principal even know?

A search on DCUM for Chesterbrook principal reveals a growing dissatisfaction with the current principal. She rarely goes outside herself and only allows kids to walk home with prior approval from her.

This has been the policy for more than ten years and predates the current Principal. It dates back to when the previous crossing guard retired and no one applied to replace him.

it's not a hill worth dying on, but I doubt she actually has that power if push came to shove

[Anonymous]

Did the sidewalk construction begin this morning ? I saw three giant orange construction signs for a flagman and work area between the church and the swimming pool. This might exasperate the kiss and ride loop which extends through this section of Kirby. Not to mention, this is the part of Kirby where people start reneging on the line and do U-turns willy-nilly ...

[Anonymous]

This problem is bigger than a DCUM post telling people to “go to the back of the line”. There are tons of people stuck in a line they had no intention of entering, doing illegal maneuvers to change routes. Time to contact the big guns!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Did the sidewalk construction begin this morning ? I saw three giant orange construction signs for a flagman and work area between the church and the swimming pool. This might exasperate the kiss and ride loop which extends through this section of Kirby. Not to mention, this is the part of Kirby where people start reneging on the line and do U-turns willy-nilly ...

Yes. I talked to one of the construction managerS. He said it's a 9-month construction project and will require digging up one lane to reroute the gas, sewer, and water lines that currently run under the road. It's going to be a nightmare on Kirby. On the upside, he says the construction hours only start at 9am so Chesterbrook's morning drop off should be done by the time they start construction. The afternoons are a different story.

[Anonymous]

I actually just drove by the kiss and ride line about 15-20 minutes ago and it was backed up all the way to the pool. I saw several cars in the pool parking lot trying to turn left onto Kirby but the line was backed up all the way, so they were just stuck waiting there. I did NOT see anyone trying to turn left from Kirby into the school parking lot but if I was stuck behind that person, I might've honked at them. I was impressed at how far over parents pulled, but large trucks still had to drive in the middle of the road to get around them, which was annoying (I was going the other way).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Did the sidewalk construction begin this morning ? I saw three giant orange construction signs for a flagman and work area between the church and the swimming pool. This might exasperate the kiss and ride loop which extends through this section of Kirby. Not to mention, this is the part of Kirby where people start reneging on the line and do U-turns willy-nilly ...

Yes. I talked to one of the construction managerS. He said it's a 9-month construction project and will require digging up one lane to reroute the gas, sewer, and water lines that currently run under the road. It's going to be a nightmare on Kirby. On the upside, he says the construction hours only start at 9am so Chesterbrook's morning drop off should be done by the time they start construction. The afternoons are a different story.

Thank you, I'll be avoiding Kirby going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This problem is bigger than a DCUM post telling people to “go to the back of the line”. There are tons of people stuck in a line they had no intention of entering, doing illegal maneuvers to change routes. Time to contact the big guns!

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Did the sidewalk construction begin this morning ? I saw three giant orange construction signs for a flagman and work area between the church and the swimming pool. This might exasperate the kiss and ride loop which extends through this section of Kirby. Not to mention, this is the part of Kirby where people start reneging on the line and do U-turns willy-nilly ...

Yes. I talked to one of the construction managerS. He said it's a 9-month construction project and will require digging up one lane to reroute the gas, sewer, and water lines that currently run under the road. It's going to be a nightmare on Kirby. On the upside, he says the construction hours only start at 9am so Chesterbrook's morning drop off should be done by the time they start construction. The afternoons are a different story.

Wow! If they have to dig up an entire lane of Kirby, then someone needs to re-route Principal's pile up mess.

[Anonymous]

Whoa. This is going to get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This problem is bigger than a DCUM post telling people to “go to the back of the line”. There are tons of people stuck in a line they had no intention of entering, doing illegal maneuvers to change routes. Time to contact the big guns!

+1000

[Anonymous]

Who is the Board /Supervisor member in Chesterbrook?

Start there! Ask for the staffer who handles public safety and traffic concerns.

-Former McLean resident who had quick response when I called (long ago)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Did the sidewalk construction begin this morning ? I saw three giant orange construction signs for a flagman and work area between the church and the swimming pool. This might exasperate the kiss and ride loop which extends through this section of Kirby. Not to mention, this is the part of Kirby where people start reneging on the line and do U-turns willy-nilly ...

Yes. I talked to one of the construction managerS. He said it's a 9-month construction project and will require digging up one lane to reroute the gas, sewer, and water lines that currently run under the road. It's going to be a nightmare on Kirby. On the upside, he says the construction hours only start at 9am so Chesterbrook's morning drop off should be done by the time they start construction. The afternoons are a different story.

Thank you, I'll be avoiding Kirby going forward.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exacerbating this problem is the fact that only maybe a quarter of households live west of the school. More than 3/4 of families are coming from the direction that requires a left turn into the lot. In the morning, when trying to get multiple kids to schools, get to work, appts, dealing with the general chaos of the morning, parents are then having to legally or otherwise u-turn to get in line. And with multiple cars coming from that direction all doing the same, well, now you have a seriously dangerous cluster f#*$.

Boundary map:
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/SY%202021-22%20Elementary%20School%20Boundaries.pdf

This is a good point. Most people are coming from the east to pick up at Chesterbrook. Therefore, they have to drive *past* the school to turn around somehow, somewhere up Kirby and join a ridiculously long line. I get the "left turns" are more dangerous argument, BUT most folks are coming from the direction that would benefit from a left turn into the Chesterbrook Kiss n Ride lot. Perhaps folks could line up in the Baptist church parking lot or something. We need innovative solutions! As pp said, Kirby will be reduced to ONE LANE for months between the Chesterbrook pool and St Dunstan's. Plus, St Dustan's is actually the Brooksfield Montessori School! They have their traffic concerns as well.