The future location of the new Maddaugh Road Elementary School in Clayton has been moved.
At an April 11 meeting, the Surrey School Board approved a land exchange with the City of Surrey that will put the school on 76 Avenue.
Surrey School Board Communications Manager Doug Strachan said that the “land swap was in the works for some time” and was made in response to public consultation after members of the public had expressed “concerns about the school being on a dead end street.”
Maddaugh Road Elementary School (which was formerly referred to as Clayton North Area School, and briefly as the Burke Road Elementary School) had originally been proposed for construction on three properties owned by the Surrey School Board — 19374, 19398 and 19406 78 Avenue.
The street that the school would face, 78 Avenue, is a dead end street. When the school district held public consultations on the school’s construction in January and October of 2017, community members expressed concerns that the resulting traffic would cause significant problems, and interfere with access to the entire street.
Since receiving the feedback from the first consultation in January 2017, the school district and city staff have been developing a siting layout that would “optimize site vehicular and pedestrian access,” according to an April 11 Surrey School Board document that details the land exchange process.
The layout development resulted in a proposal to exchange land between the city and the school board, so that the future Maddaugh Road Elementary School would face onto a different street.
The parcel of land on 78 Avenue owned by the school board backs onto property owned by the City of Surrey. That City of Surrey owned land, located at 19379 and 19409 76 Avenue, opens onto the intersection of 194 Street and 76 Avenue (see map), that allows for a second point of access for traffic. That access would provide a “much better traffic flow going to and coming from the school,” according to the school board.
According to Strachan, the school board will now proceed with finishing the construction plans, and it’s expected that the construction contract will go to tender in about a month.
Maddaugh Road Elementary School is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
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