Alpine City said Sept. 11 that it installed a temporary median, relocated a Main Street crosswalk and restricted nearby parking before the 2026-27 school year to reduce congestion outside Mountainville Academy, after the school declined a joint pilot. Parents of students at the charter school questioned the changes at a Tuesday City Council meeting, FOX 13's Scott McKane reported.
Main Street Controls
The city said the median was placed along Main Street to limit turns at the school driveway, in line with recommendations from traffic studies. It also shifted the pedestrian crossing to a location directly in front of the campus and imposed temporary limits on parking and on-street waiting in areas those studies identified. Officials described the steps as the share of a broader plan the city could carry out on its own streets, and said staff would judge the results once school-year traffic patterns were observed. "The ultimate goal of these traffic measures is to improve safety for all," the Sept. 11 statement said.
Declined Traffic Pilot
Drop-off and pickup congestion on Main Street had prompted resident complaints for several years, the city said, and Alpine asked Mountainville Academy to commission a study. The school hired Hales Engineering, which delivered a report titled "Mountainville Academy Traffic Impact Study," dated May 30, 2025. Hales compared three redesigns and favored one that would add an exit onto 100 South, plus a raised center median, a crosswalk moved from 120 South to mid-block, and right-in, right-out access at the school. The city then retained Fehr & Peers for an independent review. That firm's Feb. 4, 2026, crossing study and Feb. 11, 2026, rerouting assessment went to a traffic task force of city staff, council members, and school staff and board members, and were presented at the March 10 council meeting.
A pilot discussed after those reviews would have had the city build a temporary road from school property north to 100 South across city-owned land, cone the Main Street driveway for right turns only during set periods, and post signs for waiting areas, while the school instructed families on the new routes. On March 26, a Mountainville board member described that pilot at a public meeting on campus, and a city council member attended to take questions. A board member who also served on the task force later emailed that the school would not join, pointing to safety worries and the proposed timetable, and said the academy preferred to adopt the traffic plan with larger campus work. The note set no date for when the school would participate.
Parents and Pickup Routes
McKane reported that the school, with more than 700 students, has stood on Main Street for 20 years. Parents said children had for years walked about a block to Legacy Park, where adults parked along Main Street. Around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, barriers went up that stopped left turns out of the property, and cones in front of the park limited parking from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., the station reported. School officials and parents said they had no advance notice and still did not know who ordered the work.
Parent Addy Squires told the council she had filed a records request with the city. "Someone decided to do this one day, and I think we deserve to hear what happened there," she said, according to FOX 13. Teacher Kristen Trelz, at the school for 18 years, said many children were walking into nearby neighborhoods and crossing at least one street with neither a crosswalk nor a crossing guard. Speakers asked the council to schedule the dispute as a regular item later that month so families could question officials directly.
Engineer Findings
Fehr & Peers reported that the former crosswalk backed up Main Street in both directions and tangled the northbound line with cars leaving campus. Reviewers also saw left turns out of the driveway cutting through gaps in traffic, producing near misses and sudden stops for southbound drivers. Waiting along the curb by Legacy Park, 100 South and Center Street brought mid-block U-turns and more conflicts where students crossed 100 South on the way to the park, the review said. The firm recommended a north exit matching the Hales plan, limits on left turns at the main drive during pickup and drop-off, and a trial of parent waiting on Red Pine Drive if staging left Main Street. The city said it was still willing to work with school administrators on safety.
