Compromise hard to find with Atlantis Charter School traffic plan

FALL RIVER – Atlantis Charter School administrators say they have a realistic transportation plan to relieve the severe traffic congestion at the start and end of the school day at their recently built 43-acre campus near South Watuppa Pond.

A turnout of about 30 citizens from the Dickinson Street neighborhood, invited to a meeting at the school Monday night, showed skepticism, distrust and some open hostility.

By adding contracted buses for the sole vehicle entry from Dickinson, Atlantis Executive Director Bob Beatty said their aim is to contain traffic on that road and from autos backed up on Jefferson Street to the main entry.

It would be accomplished, Beatty said, by busing several hundred students to the upper and lower schools with a total Atlantis enrollment for kindergarten to Grade 12 of just under 1,300.

By restricting parent parking on both sides of Dickinson Street, who would be dropping off students, and using police and staff enforcement and a student ID system, Beatty said there could be relief, “so there is not the congestion that you saw last year.”

New signs would state the morning and afternoon times of restricted parking, possibly 7 to 9 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.

When he outlined their busing plan and how that would happen, Karl Duclos of Dickinson Street shouted, “But you’re not going to abide by it.”

It was a refrain from several neighbors expressing fears that busing would escalate during a contentious 90 minutes of debate.

Others questioned the turning of buses from residential Dickinson Street, complicated at morning rush hour with Stafford Road a half-mile away and an entry to the new South Coast Marketplace a half-mile further away.

Duclos referenced prior fatal accidents on Dickinson.

Beatty said they project a total of a maximum eight buses entering Atlantis from Dickinson.

For grades 7 to 12, Southeastern Regional Transit Authority has agreed to extend its route to and from B.M.C. Durfee High School with two buses each for drop-off and pick-up.

For the lower grades, Tremblay Bus Co. would extend part of its bus run with Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School to use three buses each in the morning and afternoon using Kennedy Park and one other city park to pick up and drop off students, Beatty said.

“That alone would remove hundreds of cars from our traffic flow,” Beatty said, estimating in the range of 300 to 400. “We would give parents the option of bringing their kids there.”

Those driving their children would be told to use Jefferson Street. Walkers living on or around Dickinson Street would have colored badges to identify them, Beatty said.

The morning bus times would be approximately 7 to 7:30 for the upper school and 8 to 8:30 for the lower school.

“Can we sit down with the bus company and come up with an alternative?” asked Stephen Bradbury of Spencer Street.

Bradbury, attending with his mother, Claudette, angrily accused Atlantis of managing the traffic situation incorrectly, causing “chaos” and “animosity.”

“People are doing whatever they wanted,” he said, referring to vehicles parked in their neighborhood since the campus school opened on Feb. 27.

While his mother questioned the access for fire vehicles, Bradbury said, “The main issue is the safety of kids. It sounds plausible and it sounds nice. What happens in 12 months?

"I feel in the future it will only get worse,” he said.

“We don’t want to set a precedent,” said Chris Clement of Dickinson Street.

Another complaint Clement told a reporter was the size of the school. “I’ve never seen 13 grades under one roof,” he said in an aside.

Atlantis, one of the oldest charter schools in the state opening more than 20 years ago, built this $36 million school campus to merge its three downtown Fall River schools, combining all of its grades.

A pair of City Council bonds two years ago helped facilitate the construction and needed road work.

A few residents asked if Atlantis had fulfilled that agreement.

Several times, Beatty, joined by Associate Executive Director Michael Lavro, addressed the “slippery slope” he knew skeptical residents assessed about their presented plan.

During the four months earlier this year Atlantis was in operation, they were able to reduce the time of parents dropping of students, but congestion persisted on both Jefferson and Dickinson streets, Beatty said.

“We never opened Dickinson a single time last year to relieve congestion,” Beatty said of a promise they made before the school opened. “I stood by my word.”

He said they haven’t tried “to ram things down everybody’s throats.”

He repeatedly said they were seeking a compromise on transportation for residents living on and around Dickinson and Jefferson streets and for their families and students attending the school.

“We think no more than eight buses is a reasonable compromise,” Beatty said. He said the school has hired a full-time school resource officer.

Bradbury, during a heated exchange, called the plan “hopes” and “promises.”

“Let’s compromise. Let’s be friends. It’s all political correctness,” Bradbury said.

Laura Ferreira, Fall River traffic director, said near the end she was attending to observe and hear both sides, not give input.

“I think everybody is trying to find what will be safe, not only for the children, of course, but for the vehicles and residents,” Ferreira told The Herald News.

“I can understand their concerns. All of a sudden you don’t want to see 100 cars on Dickinson Street,” she said.

Asked her opinion, Ferreira said, “It sounds like a reasonable plan to alleviate traffic on Jefferson Street.

“It’s a unique situation, and I can understand both sides being very passionate about it.”

Ultimately, the city traffic director said, “I think both parties need to think about it and see what they want to do.”

Peter David of Dickinson Street, who had questioned the enforcement of parked cars, was asked if he was reassured. “Not really,” he said.

Beatty, asked Tuesday about perspective steps they’d take, remained resolute.

He cited one-on-one discussions at the conclusion of the meeting he said were constructive on how to modify their plans and reach a compromise.

“My position is we have to find a solution to stabilize the situation,” Beatty said.

That means “continuing to push and talk to serve all the parties as best we can.”

Toward that end, the Maplewood Neighborhood Association in the South End, which encompasses both the Dickinson and Jefferson sides of Atlantis, is meeting Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Letourneau School, 323 Anthony St., to address this parking/traffic problem and a recent marijuana dispensary proposal.

Beatty said he plans to attend and address that audience.

Email Michael Holtzman at mholtzman@heraldnews.com or call him at 508-676-2573.