City Council approves plan to lessen congestion at Woodland Hills Elementary

City Council members signed off on a plan Wednesday that will allow Lawton Public Schools to better control vehicular traffic at Woodland Hills Elementary School.

While the City of Lawton’s contribution is only relocating “No Parking” signs and increasing a police presence in the area, they are important components of a larger plan to reroute traffic through the residential neighborhood north of the school to get vehicles into and out of the school grounds while lessening congestion and conflict for nearby residents.

The first project will be moving signs forbidding parking between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. The signs now are on the south side of Woodland Drive, but the school needs them on the north side of the street, said Assistant Police Chief Alvin Winham. Winham said existing signs conflict with LPS’ plan to have traffic line up along the south side of the street, which leads into the entrance of Woodland Hills Elementary. School officials said the plan is to have vehicles enter the neighborhood via Compass Drive from Northwest 67th Street, then travel west to Northwest 74th Street, then south on Northwest 74th Street to Woodland Drive.

Drivers would follow Woodland Drive to the school, then leave the grounds by traveling north to get back to Compass Drive.

Winham said the school already has the system in place and it is working.

“It’s fast,” he said, adding parents can quickly clear out of the area following that plan.

The problem is parents who arrive early to pick up their children after school, because they need a place to park until school is out. That’s why Lawton Public Schools wants the No Parking signs moved from the south side of the street.

Ward 6 Councilman Bob Weger said some of the problems were identified a year ago, when a traffic study was conducted. He said residents had concerns other than congestion, most notably, traffic that speeds through the area. Weger said that was a concern for him, because he fears the proposal to lessen congestion might encourage speeding. He said residents also have asked about placing multiple speed tables in the area — one already has been placed — to slow traffic to 25 mph.

City Manager John Ratliff said the school has long been a problem area, in terms of traffic congestion. The issue came to a head months ago when a physician who lives on Woodland Drive was scheduled for surgery, but was unable to get out of his driveway because it was blocked by a vehicle in the school’s car line.

“We felt we needed to address this,” Ratliff said.”We need to take action.”

Mayor Stan Booker noted the action comes with a recommendation from Lawton Police Department, which will be tasked with enforcing the rules.

“It makes sense to me,” he said.