As Wake County’s populations grows, the Wake County Public School System must also grow to meet rising demand. This week the planning department received plans for a new public high school (.pdf). This site is off of Louisburg Road, about 3 miles outside of I-540. The site plan shows two main buildings, as well as a football stadium, two practice fields, six tennis courts, two outdoor basketball courts. The layout does a good job of separating the bus loading area from the large student parking lot (about 550 spaces).

The big problem with the design is the layout of the athletic fields. It appears that the baseball team gets the shaft, as they have to carry equipment across the campus to their field. The school’s main entrance will be from Forestville Road, but the football stadium will be at the back of the property. Most fans attending the games will be parking in the large student lot, and will bottleneck when leaving, as this lot has only one exit; one that requires a left turn onto the campus’ main street.

There is desperately needed back entrance planned. It will be near the stadium and will basically be an extension of Canyon Road. The whole school’s flow depends on this access. Hopefully the county will turn a deaf ear to the certain complaints from the neighbors. We need better connectivity in outside of 540. If everything interconnects, then no street carries an undue burden.

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