Schools right next to interchanges

[WillWeaverRVA]

Ugh, I totally forgot that Virginia Tech now has direct access via an interchange on the US 460 freeway since the Southgate Drive interchange was built and opened a few years ago.

Liberty University has a couple of direct interchanges and the school's property straddles the US 460 freeway in Lynchburg.

Dabney Lancaster Community College in Alleghany County, Virginia also has direct access from I-64.

UVA has had direct access from and to the northbound US-29 bypass via the North Grounds Connector Road (now technically Leonard Sandridge Boulevard) for some 15+ years now–I don't recall when the road opened, but I believe it was prior to when the current basketball arena opened in 2006.

Forgot about that one too, probably because I haven't been on the northbound bypass as much.

I could have sworn there was a high school in the Hampton Roads area that was ONLY accessible via an interchange, but I guess there isn't because I can't find it now.

Maybe you were thinking of Atlantic City High School? Not in the Hampton Roads area but it's only access is from an interchange with US 40/North Albany Ave.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3671405,-74.4752929,1378m/data=!3m1!1e3

Yup, you're right. No idea why I thought it was in Hampton Roads.

[SkyPesos]

Ohio State University have 3 direct exits off OH 315, and part of the campus is west of 315 as well (the main parts are all east).

[US 89]

When it's done in a few years, the West Davis Corridor in Syracuse, Utah will have an interchange at Antelope Drive, right next to the Syracuse Arts Academy. I believe the planned freeway corridor is just west of Bluff Road through this area. (Map link)

Actually led to some interesting changes regarding the design of that interchange. Not enough space for a diamond on that side, so the original plans had a folded diamond loop for the southbound on-ramp. Current plans have it as a SPUI.

[skluth]

In the Green Bay, WI area, Ashwaubenon High School is built along Ridge Rd, a block off of  the ROW  for the NE corner of the I-41/WI 172 'Ashwaubenon Interchange', such that I often wonder why WisDOT did not build a pedestrian/Bicycle crossing diagonally through the interchange from NE to SW to connect Ridge Rd to Hanson Rd/Helmuth La.

https://goo.gl/maps/upfkcdtq2jEMYoBW9

Lambeau Field is about 10 blocks to the north on Ridge Rd.

Mike

I don't remember much development SW of the US 41/WI 172 interchange when it was built. Pedestrian access wasn't a big issue in the area back in the 70's. Directly south of WI 172 isn't a big deal as it's all hotels and industrial park.

I was surprised when I moved to St Louis and saw the state school for the deaf backs up to US 40, now I-64. Since then, St Louis actually built Stix School adjacent to the same freeway just a few blocks east. The former Mt Pleasant School (now apartments) backs up to I-55. There are a few other schools across the street from a freeway including Ames School, DeSmet High School and Parkway Northeast Middle School on opposite sides of I-270, and McClure HS.

[hockeyjohn]

Spring Road School in Neenah, Wis. at the SW corner of the US-41 and CTH II (formerly STH 150) interchange.   There is a tall sound barrier wall now, but when I attended in the early 1970s there was only a wire fence.

[7/8]

Conestoga College has two main campuses on each side of the 401 at the Homer Watson Blvd/Fountain St interchange. One campus is in Kitchener and the other is in Cambridge, ON. There's also a pedestrian bridge over the 401 to connect the campuses.

[jeffandnicole]

Not only is West Deptford High School basically next to I-295, its exit driveway forms the 4th leg of the intersection with the on-ramp to 295 North.  https://goo.gl/maps/E5kZ4DXF7e8JVXtj9

[sprjus4]

Liberty University has a couple of direct interchanges and the school's property straddles the US 460 freeway in Lynchburg.

Liberty University is virtually bisected by the US-460 freeway at this point.

[roadfro]

Nevada has a few:

Reno:
*Wooster High School - main entrance along the SB frontage road of the I-580/US 395 Plumb Lane split diamond interchange
*Honorable Mention: O'Brien Middle School (and Stead Elementary School adjacent) - While not immediately adjacent to the US 395 Stead Blvd interchange, it is close enough that there is a school crossing warning sign on the NB off ramp and school ped crossing across the ramp's free dual right turn.

Las Vegas:
*Centennial High School - adjacent to CC 215 Hualapai Way interchange
*Western High School - adjacent to US 95 Decatur Blvd interchange
*Ruth Fyfe Elementary School - adjacent to US 95 Valley View Blvd interchange.
*There are several other schools around the Las Vegas Valley that are adjacent to freeways, but do not directly abut part of a freeway interchange.

Fyfe Elementary is an interesting case because it's on a really tiny parcel, even for a really old school. The school definitely predates the US 95 freeway through here, so my assumption is that construction of the freeway took up some of the school's land. My recollection is that the school's attendance zone did not cross the freeway, but I can't currently verify that through the school district. It appears the campus is no longer in use as a regular neighborhood elementary school, but has been used as a "swing school" for the past few years allowing other old elementary schools in the district to occupy the campus while their own campuses undergo major renovation or reconstruction.

[Dirt Roads]

Liberty University has a couple of direct interchanges and the school's property straddles the US 460 freeway in Lynchburg.

Liberty University is virtually bisected by the US-460 freeway at this point.

Or rather, Liberty grew too big for that part of Lynchburg and needed to spread out bigtime in several different directions.

[Bruce]

One notable case in Federal Way, WA: Mark Twain Elementary sits right off of I-5 at South 272nd Street and will soon have light rail tracks running above its playground. There was a plan to move the school away from I-5 and the light rail line, but I don't think the funding is there for that project.

[DeaconG]

South Lake Elementary in Titusville is on the southwest corner of the interchange between I-95 and Garden Street (FL 406).

[SEWIGuy]

Central High School in San Angelo is located right on the frontage road for US 67 right next to a busy interchange. I actually discovered this because I was looking at a random GSV of San Angelo and noticed large amounts of kids in the area walking on the frontage road.

Some districts do poor planning sometimes. Thank god it's not an elementary school!

I would suggest that high schools located near highway ramps is MUCH less safe than elementary schools would be.  High school kids drive to school, and the amount of traffic that is generated in a short time would be much more hazardous.

Put it another way, I live about equal distance from a high school, middle school and two elementary schools.  The only one I really avoid during times when schools is getting in or out is the high school.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Breck School, Golden Valley, MN (MN 100 and Glenwood Ave)
Harbor City International School, Duluth, MN (I-35 and 5th Ave W)

[NE2]

http://www.google.com/maps/@34.2316412,-88.7632672,688m/data=!3m1!1e3
Mic drop.

[SGwithADD]

Vestal High School sits next to the folded diamond interchange between NY 26 and NY 434

A few miles away, Binghamton East Middle School is adjacent to I-81 Exit 3 westbound (for Broad Ave)

Also in the Binghamton metro area, Chenango Valley Middle/High School is right at I-88 Exit 2, and the Port Dickinson Elementary School is next to the NY 7 exit for Hillcrest.

[SGwithADD]

Vestal High School sits next to the folded diamond interchange between NY 26 and NY 434

A few miles away, Binghamton East Middle School is adjacent to I-81 Exit 3 westbound (for Broad Ave)

Also in the Binghamton metro area, Chenango Valley Middle/High School is right at I-88 Exit 2, and the Port Dickinson Elementary School is next to the NY 7 exit for Hillcrest.

Oh and if we count universities, Binghamton University sits at the trumpet interchange of NY 201 and NY 434, and its downtown campus is kitty-corner from the NY 434/NY 363 parclo

Truth be told, I didn't think this was all that uncommon.

[jeffandnicole]

http://www.google.com/maps/@34.2316412,-88.7632672,688m/data=!3m1!1e3
Mic drop.

Matching your bet.  https://goo.gl/maps/4EgkUQ3WPq78ckz4A

[Scott5114]

Central High School in San Angelo is located right on the frontage road for US 67 right next to a busy interchange. I actually discovered this because I was looking at a random GSV of San Angelo and noticed large amounts of kids in the area walking on the frontage road.

Some districts do poor planning sometimes. Thank god it's not an elementary school!

I would suggest that high schools located near highway ramps is MUCH less safe than elementary schools would be.  High school kids drive to school, and the amount of traffic that is generated in a short time would be much more hazardous.

Put it another way, I live about equal distance from a high school, middle school and two elementary schools.  The only one I really avoid during times when schools is getting in or out is the high school.

I don't know. I live in the same neighborhood as an elementary school and a middle school, and those are pretty hairy because they're plopped down in the middle of the neighborhood. Parents show up before school lets out and idle in the street, ignoring parking restrictions and blocking the bike lane because they're In Line To Get Their Kid, as if they're entitled to ignore the existence of rest of the world because their desire to Get Their Kid is so critical.

The two local high schools are quite a bit more orderly, since those are on large campuses on major arterial roads, with plenty of permanent traffic control to aid ingress and egress into the main parking lot.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

In the town I used to live in, the Get Your Kid headaches that Scott describes made driving by the high school a nightmare at 2 PM as the line spilled out into the right lane on the (undivided 4-lane) street. They rebuilt the parking lot to remove most of that bullshit and sent the Get Your Kid idiots to a newly built entry point to get in line away from the street, but COVID hit and then I moved so I have no idea if it's an upgrade.

[Scott5114]

Yes, newer schools around here tend to have measures to contain the Get Your Kid idiots to school property, like Ronald Reagan Elementary, which has two gigantic cloverleaf driveways just for parents to idle in while they pick up their kids. Older schools don't have those, probably because a higher percentage of kids took the bus or walked home when they were built.

(I don't really get what the purpose of waiting in a line is, anyway. At my school (elementary/middle/high all on the same campus), they just had a gigantic parking lot where your parents would park, you'd find their car, and then they'd leave. Seems a lot more efficient than each parent going up to the doors to pick up the kid or whatever purpose the line serves.)

[GaryV]

http://www.google.com/maps/@34.2316412,-88.7632672,688m/data=!3m1!1e3
Mic drop.

Matching your bet.  https://goo.gl/maps/4EgkUQ3WPq78ckz4A

What are those southern and western loop ramps even for?

[jeffandnicole]

http://www.google.com/maps/@34.2316412,-88.7632672,688m/data=!3m1!1e3
Mic drop.

Matching your bet.  https://goo.gl/maps/4EgkUQ3WPq78ckz4A

What are those southern and western loop ramps even for?

Jersey barrier on 40/322, so it's used for U-Turns.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/SH66sRkA7viomMuE6

[SEWIGuy]

Yes, newer schools around here tend to have measures to contain the Get Your Kid idiots to school property, like Ronald Reagan Elementary, which has two gigantic cloverleaf driveways just for parents to idle in while they pick up their kids. Older schools don't have those, probably because a higher percentage of kids took the bus or walked home when they were built.

(I don't really get what the purpose of waiting in a line is, anyway. At my school (elementary/middle/high all on the same campus), they just had a gigantic parking lot where your parents would park, you'd find their car, and then they'd leave. Seems a lot more efficient than each parent going up to the doors to pick up the kid or whatever purpose the line serves.)

Parking lots take up a lot of room, need to be maintained, and they can be dangerous with kids trying to find their parents car.

[jeffandnicole]

Yes, newer schools around here tend to have measures to contain the Get Your Kid idiots to school property, like Ronald Reagan Elementary, which has two gigantic cloverleaf driveways just for parents to idle in while they pick up their kids. Older schools don't have those, probably because a higher percentage of kids took the bus or walked home when they were built.

(I don't really get what the purpose of waiting in a line is, anyway. At my school (elementary/middle/high all on the same campus), they just had a gigantic parking lot where your parents would park, you'd find their car, and then they'd leave. Seems a lot more efficient than each parent going up to the doors to pick up the kid or whatever purpose the line serves.)

Different Era. In most cases, the kid must be in full view and/or accompanied by a staff member between car and building. The person picking up the child is also supposed to be a registered person, not a claimed "friend of a family but mom/dad couldn't make it today" person. Not to mention, a bunch of kids running in a parking lot looking for their parent's vehicle would be completely dangerous.

And you're not even that old. Basically, many of these ultra-secure protections started around the time you were in school.

My wife lived a few blocks away from her elementary school, across the main street, and walked to school with her mom. She'll tell the story of when school officials told her mom that she needs to be more independent, and walk alone. The first day, she went missing. Her mom was livid. She simply went to a friend's house so all was fine, but even the idea of letting a student walk a few blocks by themselves today, across a busy road, is unheard of in most suburban districts.