New school bus lane plans on hold

At the June Hot Springs County School Board meeting, Superintendent Dustin Hunt followed up on the input that the board had already received from the community on its proposed bus lane that would would encompass the school district property on the south end of the track that is currently the wooden play park. At the meeting, Hunt stated he predicted that the project is not likely to be completed before the coming school year.

Hunt stated that his preference would be to refrain from implementing the bus lane until the next school year, so as to avoid having to retrain elementary school students in the middle of a school year on a completely new entrance.

Although the architect falling ill caused delays in the project, Hunt optimistically pointed out that it afforded the district more time to engage in discussions about the project, including further soliciting community members’ opinions about what they might want.

This information was reported earlier in the June school board story in the June 24, 2021 edition of the Independent Record.

The HSCSD #1 Board of Trustees had earlier announced that they had approved to start seeking bids for the new bus drop off lane that would increase student safety, reduce traffic congestion in the current bus drop off, and improve bus traffic flow to main streets.

A release by the HSCSD #1 board stated, “Many projects have been considered with the wooden park in the past five years as the structural integrity of the park and lack of available replacement parts have created safety and liability concerns.”

They added “Once completed, Hot Springs County High School and Ralph Witters Elementary would share unloading protocols for students for this coming fall. Though there are a number of parks and playgrounds in our community, losing one that can no longer be maintained can be difficult. For this reason, the Board will be researching an area to possibly add a gazebo/picnic area.”

They went on to say other benefits of the new bus lane would include reduced maintenance costs, reduced water usage, and additional parking for sporting events such as football games and track meets. The funds used for the project are funds left over from the high school build project in 2006, and may only be used for enhancements to the facilities.

See related A look back in time on page 4 of this paper.