School zone adjusted at West High

Mark Fischenich, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Feb. 2—MANKATO — It was an oversight — not an attempt to pick on the sophomores — and it's going to be fixed.

"It was something a resident called in and noticed that the sign was a little goofy," Assistant City Engineer Michael McCarty said of the unintended gap in the school zone around Mankato West High School.

The "school zone" — with its 20 mph speed limit when children are present — exists all along Stoltzman Road on the eastern side of the high school, along Blue Earth Street leading to the western entrance to the campus and along most of Pleasant Street, which bisects the south side of the campus.

But for a few hundred feet, the school zone ceases to exist, meaning drivers can legally ramp it up to 30 mph. The unintentional speedier spot is right in the area where low-ranking students cross to get to their cars in the high school's most distant parking lot — commonly called "The Sophomore Lot."

A change recently brought to the City Council extends the school zone and will result in the "End School Zone" sign coming down, potentially making for a less unpleasant sprint for the 10th-graders crossing Pleasant Street to get to their parking lot.

"We wanted that to be incorporated — that crossing — as well," McCarty said of the revised school zone.

Another school-related change has also been approved on Marsh Street by Mount Olive Lutheran School, a K-8th school just east of Mankato's hospital. Following a neighborhood petition, the section of Marsh Street between Dane and McConnell streets will become permit-only parking on both sides of the street — limited to residents of adjacent homes.

McCarty said the change will allow more space for pick-up and drop-off of students at Mount Olive. Parking pressures appear to have increased in the area because of the continuing growth of the hospital, including the current construction project which reduced some parking options on the northeastern side of the hospital campus.

"I think it's pushed some more of the parking into the neighborhood and potentially increased the parking load," McCarty said.