Slow Down Plea From Parents

Ridge Heights Road, Reston VA, is a busy place when school is in! With three schools bordering the street -- Terraset ES, South Lakes HS, and Langston Hughes MS -- there can be a lot of traffic at arrival and dismissal times. Unfortunately, some drivers forget to obey the 25 MPH speed limit.

This was a hot topic at the Terraset PTA meeting on Monday, September 15th. A parent of a kindergarten student expressed concern that Ridge Heights traffic is often too fast, making it difficult for children to cross! Observing that Terraset is the only school in the area without a Crossing Guard, she contacted FCPS Department of Facilities and Transportation in addition to the Reston Police.

There is a little history here.... some years ago, Terraset requested an additional bus to service students in the school district who live on the west side of Soapstone Drive and north of South Lakes Drive. This bus was allocated at the expense of a crossing guard at the corner of Soapstone and Ridge Heights. Given that there is an underpass on Ridge Heights into Terraset, this seemed to be a reasonable solution. However, at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, the underpass was closed due to the school renovation.

Fortunately, the Ridge Heights underpass is now open for arrival and dismissal. In theory! At least three times this week, the underpass gate was not open at 4:15 pm when some walkers were still making their way home. The gate is supposed to remain open through 4:30 pm. One student walking through the meadow behind the Ridge Heights Pool on Friday afternoon exclaimed "The gate was closed! But I found a way around!" Has the gate been closed at any other arrival/dismissal times?

Apparently there has been widespread concern about Crossing Guards in Reston. On September 18th the Fairfax County Chief of Police posted this comment regarding "traffic congestion in and around certain schools".

Given the level of shared concern expressed at its September 15th meeting, Terraset PTA created a committee to further investigate Ridge Heights traffic issues, with a goal to define the extent of the problem and propose possible solutions. The committee will report back to the next PTA meeting on October 7th.