The schools, to be located off Chastain Road, parallel to U.S. 123 will be about 500 feet to 600 feet apart at the closest point, according to site planners.
Each school will have to entrance drives off Chastain Road, and there will only be one entry way between the two schools, which will have a locked gate, according to Joel Carter with Jumper, Carter and Sease.
He also said Chastain Road will be widened to three lanes from the intersection with Piney Trail Road to 600 feet past the schools and that there will be a right turning lane into each entrance.
Carter told commission members traffic should not be a major problem since the vocational school will have a cafeteria, and students will not be traveling out and back from the school to their high school as much since some regular curriculum courses will be given at the school along with vocational programs.
Along with road improvements, Southside Water will also extend a 10-inch water line from Piney Trail to the school, he said. Currently, a 2-inch line runs to that area.
Carter also said the site for the two schools will encompass about 55 acres and that the buildings will shield neighbors from the parking lot lights.
Barry Bowen commended the school district and architects for their efforts.
“You’ve done a good job,” he said. “It seems like the issues the community may have, you have already addressed.”
No one from the public spoke out for or against the plans.
The new elementary school will be able to hold up to 800 students, and the vocational school could hold up to 650 at a time, Carter said.
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