Barker College releases new traffic management plans as part of $121m school redevelopment

A top Sydney private school has released details of strict school pick-up and drop-off protocols as part of major redevelopment of the campus that will see the enrolment numbers grow to more than 2800 students.

Barker College has released details of pick-up rules to address traffic congestion concerns

A top Sydney private school has released details of strict school pick-up and drop-off protocols as part of major redevelopment of the campus which will see the enrolment numbers grow to more than 2800 students.

Barker College has published new traffic management protocols in response to community concerns over the school’s plan to undertake a $121m redevelopment of its Hornsby campus.

The development will involve adding a range of new facilities including teaching areas, an indoor swimming pool, rooftop tennis courts, a performing arts building and an exams centre.

The expansion would increase the student enrolment headcount to 2850 – an increase of 258 students on current levels.

New traffic plans released by the school outline a range of pick-up protocols to address traffic congestion during the pick-up and drop-off periods.

A photo of pick-up lanes at the school.

It is understood the school has started to implement “several operational improvements” ahead of the proposed redevelopment, including staggering school start and finish times and allocating more space to drop-off and pick-up within the school grounds.

School gates have also opened earlier to enable parents who arrive early to park or queue onsite rather than on surrounding streets.

A photo of the pick-up run at the school.

The rules also involve parents and guardians displaying signs of their child’s name in the front windscreen of cars as they pick up children during the afternoon school runs.

Parents are then directed to an allocated pick up location at an allocated time where staff members with microphones announce the name of the child in advance of the car’s arrival.

Students – who are instructed to wait behind pedestrian barriers – are then escorted by staff to their parent or guardian’s cars.

A school spokeswoman said the school was “confident that these measures are helping to address the traffic flow around the school during drop off and pick-up”.

School staff oversee the pick-up runs.

“We continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and improve them where needed,” she said.

The traffic management plans come after submission from residents and two nearby schools raised concerns over congestion impacts as part of the school’s planned redevelopment.

St Leo’s Catholic College principal Anthony Gleeson raised concerns the school’s expansion would “ultimately result in a significant impact on traffic for the local road network”.

Similar concerns were flagged by Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School principal Jacinta Crowe.

“It is anticipated that the future aquatic and tennis centre as well as the proposed performing arts centre will require increased parking of which may result in overflow parking to the street,” she said in a submission to the plans.

Barker College is planning to add new facilities to the campus.

Henny Stier, whose son attends Barker College, supported the school’s pick-up protocols.

“For parents who have commitments it makes the school pick-up run faster,” she said. “Instead of everyone at once trying to pick-up their children, it makes the process more streamlined.”

Traffic modelling by the school shows the expansion is expected to generate an increase of up to 63 two-way vehicle movements per hour.

There are also “minor increases” in congestion expected on surrounding roads including Pacific Hwy.

Barker College, in its plans, state the project would modernise outdated facilities at the campus including the current pool which dates back more than 25 years and was “nearing its serviceable lifespan”.

The increased enrolment capacity would make the student population one of the largest in Sydney’s north. Staff numbers would also increase by 12 to 48.

The school’s development proposal is being considered by the Department of Planning and is currently in the final assessment stage.