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URSULINE ACADEMY
K-12 / Dallas, Texas The Ursuline Academy campus in Dallas, Texas, was under construction during the 2008-2009 academic school year. The purpose of the school's expansion was to include the French Family Math and Science Technology Building. Ursuline Academy initially requested services from DeShazo Group to assist in resolving the anticipated 60+ shortage of campus parking spaces during construction. The focus of the study was expanded to include providing traffic operations procedures during construction, which would ultimately become the transportation management plan (TMP) for the academy. Among the anticipated traffic-related issues during construction were: • Reduction in the school's parking supply, • Provision of additional parking for construction vehicles, • Limitations of existing campus to provide circulation pattern for school traffic through construction area, • Loss of several drop-off/pick-up locations within the construction area, • Increased pedestrian/vehicular conflicts due to temporary classrooms located on other side of internal roadway from main school building, • Queued vehicles must be on school property only per City of Dallas requirements, • Narrow internal drives, • Angled parking for direction of traffic, and • Ingress and egress of construction vehicles during school day. The main goal of a TMP is to provide a safe and efficient campus traffic plan for all modes of transportation. One element of the TMP was to limit the number of vehicles coming onto the campus—especially during the peak morning and afternoon periods. The firm recommended reducing the number of student parking passes to address the reduced parking supply and encouraging students to carpool during the construction period. DeShazo Group created color-coded maps showing the number of students living within each ZIP Code and prepared a “Carpool Plan During Construction” exhibit and TMP guidelines for carpool circulation patterns to serve the campus. The school held meetings with parent to alert them of the modifications to the traffic circulation and parking supply limitations that were expected during construction. Ursuline Academy staff expressed deep gratitude to DeShazo Group for being able to so effectively diminish the anticipated parking and traffic headaches during campus construction. Parents also commented that the new circulation pattern and carpool pick-up procedures were great improvements. |