Despite resident complaints, the Issaquah School District plans to start construction of the new Sunny Hills Elementary School, complete with access for buses off 235th Place Southeast.
The end of that sentence is bound not to sit well with some residents near the school, especially those in the Timbercrest subdivision.
“The Sunny Hills process is moving forward,” said Steve Crawford, director of capital projects for the district.
School officials have submitted to the city plans for the $27 million rebuilding of the elementary school at 3200 Issaquah-Pine Lake Road. According to Crawford, the plans include two points of access for traffic. Cars will enter the property from Issaquah-Pine Lake Road. School buses and service vehicles will use 235th Place.
According to Timbercrest residents, 235th is the main entrance to their neighborhood and many are not excited about sharing the road with multiple school buses. Rick Arluck is one such resident and he claims district officials have announced little in the way of progress around the Sunny Hills development since two meetings in December.
“They were pretty well-attended,” Arluck said, adding opponents to the 235th Place entrance put forth counterproposals.
“However, it was clear to many local residents in attendance the district favored location of the school bus entry on 235th Place Southeast and was merely giving the appearance of considering other alternatives,” Arluck wrote in an email.
“We looked at a number of different options throughout the process,” Crawford said.
He added that while the December meetings might have been well-attended, opponents were no-shows at subsequent school board meetings where officials assumed they would put in an appearance.
At this point, officials are sticking with plans that leave the bus entrance on 235th Place. Crawford said there simply isn’t room for two entrances off Issaquah-Pine Lake Road, and officials are anxious to keep the entrances separate, to keep children getting on and off buses out of the way of car traffic.
Crawford added city officials agree and also see separating bus and car traffic as a plus.
Initially, district plans called for the main entrance to the new Sunny Hills to be on 235th Place. That changed because of early resident objections, Crawford said.
If the building receives approval from the city, Crawford said the plan is to have contractors begin work on the new school right after the end of the current school year. The hope is to have the new Sunny Hills open for students by September 2016.