Fairfield alters road signs around Washington Elementary

FAIRFIELD – The city of Fairfield has approved Washington Elementary School's request to alter road signs around the school to change traffic flow patterns during school pick-up and drop-off times.

Under the old setup, vehicles entered the school from Madison Avenue and turned south on E Street before picking up students on the east side of the school. The school district sought to change that so vehicles would enter the school off D Street onto Jackson and then north on E Street. Instead of going one way like before, the vehicles would go in a loop.

Access from Madison Avenue would be restricted, blocked by barricades.

Madison Avenue will be used exclusively by buses, which like the other vehicles, will make a loop of their own through a buses-only parking lot on the north side of the school.

To make this change, the district needed permission from the city to change one-way streets now posted on E Street and Jackson.

Washington Elementary School Principal Evan Hammans said the reason the school requested the change was that it made the traffic flow more safely and efficiently.

'We feel this will be the best solution for our students, staff, and families,” he said. 'It will also allow traffic and the buses to flow more freely on East Madison Avenue.”