MARCH 15, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9
New traffi c fl ow may reduce impact on MHS neighbors
N
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Ask any parent whose
ever dropped off, or picked
up, their student at McNary
High School at the beginning
and end of the day and they
will likely tell you that it’s a
dreaded experience.
CLAGGETT ST
TO LOCKHAVEN DR
The
Arbor
at
Avamere
Depending on the day, it
can take up to 20 minutes
to enter campus, drop off a
student and then get back out
of the parking lot to move on
with the rest of the day. The
situation, at various times, has
led families to seek creative
alternatives for getting kids
Two-story addition
MAP LEGEND
New admin. area
Bus circulation
New soccer fi eld
SPED bus circulation
Vehicle circulation
Varsity
Baseball
Field
Pedestrian/bike circ.
Existing Building
P
New student parking
C
New entry courtyard
Bus drop off
Existing elements
SPED bus drop off
New softball fi elds
Vehicle drop off
New tennis courts
C
Football
Field
& Track
P
TO CHEMAWA RD
Map created by CANDACE JOHNSON, ANDREW JACKSON
SPORTS,
continued from Page A1
the current weight room.
While the current weight
room is being demolished in fa-
vor of a bigger, more open space,
athletic programs’ access to the
current facility, and when the
new one will be completed, is
still unclear.
The fall sports programs (i.e.
football, volleyball, boys soc-
cer, girls soccer, cross country)
would be affected the most if
the weight room is unavailable
this summer.
“We don’t know if we’re
going to be without a weight
room for a month or a week
or all summer. Those are the
things that we’re still working
on,” Gragg said.
By the time Phase 2 comes
around in September, there will
portable classrooms all over the
grass fi eld by Chemawa Road,
which will have its greatest im-
pact on the boys and girls soc-
cer programs — both programs
hold practices and play their
non-varsity games in that area.
“If any sport is being im-
pacted the most, I would say
that soccer probably is,” Gragg
said. “While they’ll still play
the majority of varsity games at
the (football) stadium like they
always have, a full-sized grass
practice fi eld on McNary’s
campus will be diffi cult to fi nd.”
Gragg is expecting that Mc-
Nary won’t have a grass fi eld
for the 2019 and 2020 seasons,
which means that both boys
and girls soccer programs will
have to fi nd different places
to practice and play games for
their non-varsity teams.
“We need a plan for soccer,
we just don’t know what that is
yet,” Gragg said.
McNary boys soccer coach
Miguel Camarena acknowl-
edged that Whiteaker Middle
School might be a destination
for his program next season, but
he knows that it’s not going to
be easy.
“It is going to be a challenge
no doubt about it, but we are
going to make this work,” Ca-
marena said. “The biggest chal-
lenges for us is going to be
transportation, location and
space for our boys soccer play-
ers.”
“Another issue is to fi gure
out where are we going to store
soccer equipment for practices
and games.”
Despite the hassle that the
next two seasons will be bring,
both Camarena and McNary
girls soccer coach AJ Nash, feel
like they are in good hands with
McNary administration.
“We do have great leadership
within our athletic department
so I am confi dent that, although
we will feel the change, the im-
pact will be limited and our
programs will not suffer be-
cause of it,” Nash said.
Camarena also commented:
“In the long run, the expansion
will be positive.”
Phase 2 will start this fall
and go into Spring 2020. While
there is scheduled to be a JV
softball fi eld over in the pur-
chased St. Edward space by that
time, the Celtics varsity softball
team will remain in their cur-
rent space for one last season
— with the portable classrooms
just beyond the home run fence.
The new varsity softball
fi eld is scheduled to be ready in
to school, usually by making
use of pedestrian gates leading
to McNary. The situation
is sometimes a scourge to
residents who live in the
adjoining neighborhoods, and
one most recently felt by the
residents of Newberg Drive
on the west side of campus.
Residents have voiced their
concerns and frustrations to
the school, the school district
and the Keizer City Council
over the past fi ve years. Relief
may be in sight, but it could
well get worse before it gets
better.
The planned expansion of
McNary High School includes
a near-complete redesign of
the school’s parking lot and
traffi c fl ow patterns.
“There will be more
parking, but the fl ow will be
so much better,” said Erik
Jespersen, McNary principal.
“Traffi c engineers have helped
us think through that fl ow and
now there will be two main
spots to drop off kids.”
Buses will all enter through
the north side of campus on
Lockhaven Drive North,
peel off from car traffi c to
travel around the back of the
building to drop off at a new
entrance that will open in
the fall of 2021 and then exit
through the south side of the
campus onto Chemawa Road
North.
“It will speed up everything.
It’s not always just the amount
of cars, it’s the stop, start, stop,
start,” Jespersen said.
Vehicles entering from the
north and south sides of the
campus will have dedicated
routes to follow into and out
of the parking lot to minimize
the merging that chokes the
current patterns over and over
again at different points.
Special education buses
will enter from the east end
of the campus through a
new driveway leading past St.
Edward Catholic Church and
The Arbor at Avamere Court.
All the transformation will
likely mean some headaches
in the interim because on-
campus parking will be
drastically reduced during
the 14-month construction
project, but the district is
looking for opportunities to
partner with other spaces in
the area.
“We’re working through a
lot of it right now. We might
look for community partners
to assist with parking and fi nd
some viable solutions,” said
Karma Krause, the district’s
bond information offi cer.
Spring 2021.
“We’re good either way. As
long as we have a place to play
and can compete at a high level,”
McNary softball coach Kevin
Wise said.
While the demolition of the
existing tennis courts will take
place in Phase 1 this summer,
the new courts are scheduled
to be ready next tennis season
— which will be located near
Chemawa Road.
“I am excited that we will
get newly constructed tennis
courts,” McNary girls tennis
coach Sean Smith said. “I have
great support from the school
and community and foresee the
program getting stronger every
year.”
The plan is for Phase 3 to
take place during summer of
2020 and be mostly completed
by the time the fall rolls around.
But with a project this substan-
tial, schedules could very well
change.
“I always like to remind folks
that schedules are expected to
change,” said Karma Krause,
who is a capital projects public
engagement specialist with the
school district.
“We’re not ready to make
fi rm guarantees on anything
until we have full, solid plans.”
While the McNary athletic
program isn’t gaining much in
terms of square footage, Gragg
believes that these changes will
be very benefi cial to the school
and the city of Keizer.
“There are so many bene-
fi ts to having these upgrades,”
Gragg said. “Not only for ath-
letics, but everything in general.”
“Having the majority of our
athletics in one space makes
things convenient as well.”
BY DUKE ERNSBERGER AND VIRGINIA CATE
DIRECTED BY LINDA BAKER
*
By arrangement with Playscripts
FOR MORE INFORMATION
keizerhomegrowntheatre.org
MARCH
7 PM : 15 | 16 | 22 | 23 | 29 | 30
2 PM : 17 | 24 | 31
Keizer Cultural Center | 980 Chemawa Rd NE
*FREE with Oregon Trail Card