Valley Christian High School Traffic Project
Tackling problems of congestion and parking, the addition of the Valley Christian Parking Lot would increase the efficiency of traffic circulation, optimize the school and all users’ time, money, and safety, and decrease vehicular carbon emissions.
This project stemmed from my mom's agitated rants of being late for her classes and the frustration that her and other students, teachers, and parents experienced trying to drive up the hill to attend class or drop off their kids. With longstanding traffic and lack of parking problems, I decided to brainstorm different methods in which to quell the congestion. An under-the-hill tunnel pass with large-scale stairs up the mountain? An overpass from the city-occupied land that provided additional parking and drop-off?
I landed on the idea of a parking structure embedded on the hillside which would be an extension of Skyway Drive. The first floor would be an entirely drop-off route, with multiple exits for cars to quickly circulate out. Cars could either turn in to drop off, continue driving to the top of the mountain, or enter the ramp to reach the upper levels.
The second and third floors are mainly parking (though some parking spaces could be transformed into additional drop-offs if lower floors become too congested). The second floor connects to the existing basketball court level, where students can walk up to the top floor through the existing walkway. The third floor is the top floor that connects to the road again, where pedestrians can cross to reach the main campus. There is also another vehicle entrance and exit. All throughout, there are elevators, stairways, and handicap parking.
On the facade, shapes resembling the letters "V" and "C" bring symbolism to the structure and combined with the overarching glass cover which could house advanced solar energy panels, could create a landmark-worthy image of safety, efficiency, and sustainability to Valley Christian Schools.
Benefits:
- Decrease congestion at the top of the mountain
- Increase pick-up/drop-off efficiency
- Provide additional parking
- Optimize users’ time and money
- Provide safe and accessible drop off other than Fehren
- Decrease vehicular emissions
- Create a landmark for Valley Christian
Caveats:
- While increased drop off and parking at the bottom of the hill reduces vehicular emissions, the construction of the parking structure requires energy and resources
- The drop off floor may be congested if fewer than anticipated cars exit than enter
- may need to convert second and third floor parking spaces into additional drop-off zones
- The crosswalk and stairway connecting to the main campus would need to be widened and traffic controlled to ensure pedestrian safety