Bardin Road Safe Routes to School Improvements

The Bardin Road Safe Routes to School Improvements Project is a road diet and safety enhancement project with a focus on improving vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle access to Bardin Elementary School. Kimley-Horn utilized two contiguous roundabouts to maintain vehicular flow while providing safe access to the school’s drop-off and pick-up zone.

The original intersection of Bardin Road and Alisal Street consisted of three separate intersections closely spaced with multiple decision points. Vehicles from the north and west, where the majority of the students live, did not have an easy way to access the school’s drop-off and pick-up location. As a result, parents were either making illegal U-turns or dropping off their children on the opposite side of the street, forcing students to cross Bardin Road at various locations without crosswalks. School-bound traffic was also using alternative routes along Monte Bella Boulevard and Sconberg Parkway to get to the drop-off and pick-up area, causing congestion on the neighborhood streets.

The proposed dual roundabouts consolidate the decision points and provide an innovative way for vehicles from all directions to gain access to the school drop-off and pick-up area. Vehicles traveling from the north or west may now proceed through the roundabouts and exit from the northbound leg into the separated school drop-off zone. This area provides two lanes with adjacent sidewalks for safe and effective student drop-off, and includes an enhanced crosswalk for students to cross from the eastern lane drop-off zone. The layout will effectively double the size of the drop-off zone and increase its safety exponentially. Not only does the student drop-off area provide easy vehicle access and pedestrian safety, but it is also fully separated from through traffic, thereby reducing overall congestion along the corridor.

The double roundabout approach is new for Monterey County. Initial feedback indicates that the solution is working very well, and the school traffic during the peak drop-off and pick-up periods has been greatly improved.

This is a big win for Safe Routes to School (SRTS) projects and sets the stage for other schools in the area.