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McAnally Middle School + McKinney Elementary Traffic Pattern Update

July 29, 2024

 

Good afternoon! We are gearing up for a great school year as new campus neighbors, and we cannot wait to see all of our McKinney and McAnally students! We greatly appreciate the feedback as well as the concerns you’ve expressed to us as we’ve prepared for this school year, especially as it relates to traffic patterns and making sure our students and staff make it to school safely. We hope you’ll see in the information below that we’ve been listening! We also hope you know that we understand how difficult change can be, but we’re ready to work hard to have a successful year on both of our campuses!

 

Today, we’d like to share with you some very important traffic and routing information. We want to first and foremost tell you that this is a plan we’ve made with our Aledo ISD Police Department, district administration and the administration on both campuses to keep our students and staff as safe as possible while trying to keep cars queued and off of Nightmist (McKinney) and Old Weatherford Road (McAnally).

 

We will evaluate the successes and any improvements that need to be made to this plan throughout the first days of school as traffic patterns start to normalize. We know the first day and week of school are generally high-traffic times, and opening a new school adds another layer to the challenges.

 

We also know that you are working now to make your plans for how to make drop off and pickup work in your life schedule, and we appreciate your patience so much as the traffic patterns become established. Thank you for helping us all to keep our children safe by following these guidelines and know that we will make adjustments, as necessary.

 

For both campuses: 

  • The bridge connecting the McKinney and McAnally campuses is for foot or bicycle traffic only (with the exception of emergency vehicles, as needed) and will be closed to all vehicular traffic at all times.
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  • We reached out to the Morningstar developers for information on plans they have to help keep bicycle and pedestrian traffic safer for students to get to school. We appreciate their work on this and are excited that they came back with a plan for cross walks and four-way stops that we understand they intend to install before school starts. This includes crosswalks across Indigo Sky and along Chipwood Drive, Nightmist Road, Patience Drive, Legna Drive and Windstream Drive with additional four-way stops in this area. Thank you for sharing your concerns with Morningstar and Aledo ISD - we are all working together to keep our kids safe! Also… 
    • Morningstar is also working on some additional crosswalk/safety plans around the Morningstar roundabout area with the city of Fort Worth.
    • It is important to note that Morningstar is in the Fort Worth extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ) and not in the Fort Worth city limits, and, because of this, the City of Fort Worth has indicated that the City will not implement its crossing guard program used inside the City’s boundaries. 

For McKinney Elementary:

  • As indicated on the map below, all drop off and pick up traffic and walkers will enter the campus from the Nightmist entrance and turn right. 
  • Walkers will use the sidewalk and cross Lynn McKinney Way at the crosswalk where there will be a police officer or other staff member to assist students in crossing safely. Students will then follow the sidewalk along the west side of campus and enter through the front doors to the school.
  • There is no regular bus service from the Morningstar neighborhood to McKinney Elementary. The only bus service to this campus will be one to two special education buses, and they will utilize the lot and doors in the front of the school for both drop off and pick up each day. If your child will be riding one of these buses, our transportation department will be contacting you directly.
  • As indicated on the map, we will begin double-stacking traffic after the first drive and then it will split to single-stacked traffic just prior to entering the north lot of McKinney Elementary where student drop off and pick up will take place.
  • The same traffic pattern will be used for morning drop off and afternoon pick up.

For McAnally Middle School:

  • As indicated on the map below, the drop off and pick up traffic pattern will be just as it was last year with cars entering and exiting along Old Weatherford Road. 
  • Walkers from the Morningstar neighborhood will utilize the sidewalk from Nightmist Road and cross Lynn McKinney Way, follow the sidewalk along the west side of McKinney Elementary and continue to the bridge connecting McKinney and McAnally to enter McAnally in the doors on the west side of the campus near the cafeteria.
  • There will be an opportunity for parents to queue (single stacked) for drop off and pick up near the bridge connecting McKinney and McAnally. We are hopeful that we will be able to allow this additional drop off opportunity. In order for this to work and not interfere with McKinney traffic, all must follow these guidelines:
    • Morning Drop Off: Parents may queue at the bridge starting no earlier than 7:45 a.m.
    • Afternoon Pick Up: Parents may queue at the bridge starting no earlier than 3:45 p.m.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we all work together to keep our students and staff safe!

 

If you have any questions, we have set up an email address for McAnally and McKinney traffic. Please contact: McKMcATraffic@aledoisd.org.

 

Sincerely,

Dr. Chris White, McAnally Middle School Principal

Heather Street, McKinney Elementary Principal

Fred Collie, Aledo ISD Police Department Chief of Police