District, city discuss closing street near middle school
Southwest Second Avenue deemed a potential hazard for students

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:20 AM PDT

Ontario School District officials are in the process of requesting the city close Southwest Second Avenue, which bisects the Ontario Middle School campus, to traffic and pedestrians. They reopened discussions with the City Council in a joint work session Wednesday regarding rationale for the closure and how to proceed.

ONTARIO — Closing Southwest Second Avenue between Southwest Fourth and Southwest Sixth streets for traffic and pedestrians has been a desire of the Ontario School District’s for many years.

The issue was the main topic of discussion during a meeting between school district and city officials Wednesday.

The district wants to close Southwest Second Avenue — a roadway that bisects the Ontario Middle School campus — and has pushed the idea in the past with little success.

Recently, though, the idea to close the street was a key recommendation made in the Ontario School Facilities Task Force 20-year plan for the district.

In its recommendation to move ahead with the second phase of a district-wide renovation plan, the task force proposed introducing the closure of Southwest Second Avenue as a necessary component in making middle school improvements.

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According to the task force report, Southwest Second is “a major deficiency of the current site” because it bisects the campus and it “poses serious safety concerns, as well as other logistical problems, when improvements/remodeling/additions to the facilities are considered.”

School district officials reiterated those concerns, which echoed arguments presented in the past, especially citing safety as a major issue of keeping the street open.

Ontario School District Superintendent Dennis Carter said, even though the street is closed during school hours and reopens to the public at the end of the school day, students remain on campus for afterschool activities and are not necessarily cautious when crossing the street because they are used to it being closed during the daytime.

“And we haven’t lost any yet, but at some point we may,” Carter said.

Carter said the school district would like to have the street closed but not vacated entirely because that would require removing utility lines and eliminating the various easements, which would be time-consuming and expensive.

Ontario City Councilwoman Susann Mills said she was concerned closing the street would increase traffic on neighboring streets. She also pointed out Southwest Second Avenue was the only through street, with the exception of Idaho Avenue and Southwest Fourth Avenue, that run that direction, in the area.

School district officials and some City Council members, however, asserted the traffic impact to neighboring streets would not differ from what occurs now when the street is closed during school hours.

Some school district and city officials also noted many people avoid driving on Southwest Second Avenue regardless because they are either used to the street being closed or uncertain if it is open or not.

“I think our primary goal is protection of our kids,” Ontario City Councilman Lewie Allen said, and that sentiment was echoed by other council members.

Other traffic impacts were discussed as far as busing was concerned and parking, since the street would no longer be open to parking during school events. Carter said busing would be decided during the design phases because the school district has different options it could pursue when determining routes.

He also said the school has an overflow gravel parking lot along Southwest Fourth Street that could be used for parking.

Ontario Fire Chief Terry Mairs objected to the street being closed if it meant Ontario Fire & Rescue could not access it in case of an emergency. That would also preclude building any type of walkway or canopy over the street that students would walk under in inclement whether if fire trucks could not drive underneath. School officials, however, indicated some arrangement could be made to allow for fire trucks to have easy access.

“In the safety realm, don’t take it that we don’t want those buildings to be protected from fire either,” Carter said.

After more discussion, it was determined Carter would approach the city with a request to close the street and proceed from there. While the closure of the street only requires a council vote to pass, the public and affected residents will also have a chance to comment before a final conclusion is reached.

Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence said after the meeting, should some arrangement be drawn up satisfying both sides, and the council agrees to it after receiving public comment, there is nothing to prevent the street from closing.

“I’m hearing a lot of support for it, and it’s just a matter of working out the details,” he said.