Published: June 12, 2009 02:47 pm      

RISD approves road project at Primary school campus

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

At least one first-day-of-school headache should be eliminated for Rusk parents next school year.

Rusk Independent School District board members Monday approved Taylor and Sons construction firm of Jacksonville to build a new road at the Rusk Primary School over the summer.

“Hopefully this will help ease some of the congestion at the Primary,” RISD Superintendent James Largent said Tuesday. “We’ve always had traffic problems at the Primary campus. There’s just not enough room for everyone to get in there and out again in a timely fashion.”

The new one-way road will connect the campus’s drop-off area directly to Loop 343 in Rusk.

“It gets pretty hectic there, especially on the first day of school,” Rusk Assistant Police Chief and board member Roy Cavazoz said. “We have four to five officers out there directing traffic every year, just for that one campus.”

The project will cost $71,268 and includes a new 100-foot by 80-foot parking lot, to be located to the west of the main building, for staff and visitor parking.

Board members approved the purchase of four city lots adjacent to the campus earlier this year, as part of plans to build the road.

The district’s preliminary construction for the road has already begun.

“We’re already moving fences and playground equipment, getting ready,” Largent said. “The plan is to start building in two to three weeks and be finished by the time school starts next year.”

Largent said district officials have worked on plans for the new road for more than a year.

In other business, school board members also discussed the district’s position regarding the variance to the city of Rusk’s ordinance prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages within 300 feet of a public school. No action was taken.

“We had a discussion on the issue and simply reiterated the board’s concern with setting a precedence that’s going to create potential problems in the future,” Largent said. “We appreciate the concerns of our local businesses and we’re hoping the city can come up with something that will work for everyone involved.”

Rusk City Council will revisit the matter Thursday when the members discuss an ordinance amending distance requirements for the sale of beer and/or wine and providing for recognition of grandfathered status for vendors.

The council meeting will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 11, in the council chambers at Rusk City Hall, 219 S. Main St., Rusk. The public is welcome.