On March 1, 2012, the FHS Parking Lot Task Force convened to discuss a surprising and wonderful proposal. Civil Engineer, Frank Rosenblum, of Underwood and Rosenblum, presented a plan (attached) that would significantly improve the flow of the front parking lot, for both the swimmers and the school families. The plan anticipates adding a new student drop-off lane on Fremont Avenue, adding 20 parking spaces along Fremont Avenue and slightly relocating the VTA bus stops. The plan also makes some changes to the existing front parking lot which the pool patrons use. The exit now near the re-opened entrance will be moved southward, (closer to the oak trees), and will thus allow patrons to exit the parking lot without having to drive down to the main building, sometimes getting caught-up in congested school traffic.
As anticipated, the plan also includes the removal of two of the oak trees – one is small and juts out into the driving lane and one is a large tree, but the arborist has determined that it is dying. The other large oak tree will remain. The VTA bus stop in front of the lot will be moved to be in front of main building. (So, instead of students disembarking from the bus in a busy parking lot, they will get out on the sidewalk in front of the buildings.) Some restriping of the lot will occur to align the parking spaces to the plan. An additional change is the relocation of the pool handicapped spot to be next to the gymnasium where it was deemed easier for someone to maneuver a vehicle in and out.
All of our 35 pool spots will be renumbered and will remain permitted until 5PM school days. We have no decision, at this point, regarding the additional permitting of 10 of our 35 spaces past 5PM as we requested. And, a drop-off/pick-up area for the pool still remains an elusive problem. See the table below to view the changes to the total number of spots in the lot.
| Before any construction began June 2010 | Planned with new football entrance | Actual after new football entrance | Planned after summer parking lot improvements |
| No. of spots = 136 | No. of spots = 126 | No. of spots = 124 | No. of spots = 124 |
The shift that Adult Education took to focus its use on the back parking lot seems to have had a positive effect on available pool parking. We are very grateful for the leadership of Peggy Raun-Linde! Our hope is that this greatly reduces the number of times pool patrons cannot find a single spot in the front lot.
Next steps:
The FUHSD Citizens Oversight Committee for Bond funds will review the new parking lot plan on 3/26 and the FUHSD Board will review the plan on 4/3. Please join me in encouraging them to affirm these plans and congratulate staff on their forward thinking and quick action. Contact Holly for more information about how to do that.
The timeframe for completion of the front parking lot updates and all the changes on Fremont Avenue is slated for end of summer 2012!
