The Traffic Pattern at Apison Elementary



Greetings to all of our new and returning parents! As many of you know, East Hamilton Middle School is located behind our school. This has required Apison Elementary to clarify our AM and PM traffic patterns. The point of this page is to provide you, our parents, a way to familiarize yourselves with our drop-off and pick-up plan. Please review this page in full. In addition to this introduction, there are four separate sections to view. 

1. A summary of East Hamilton Middle's traffic flow plan. 
2. A visual walk-through of Apison Elementary's AM traffic flow plan.
3. A visual walk-through of Apison Elementary's PM traffic flow plan.
4. An explanation of how to access parking at Apison Elementary.

1. Summary of East Hamilton Middle's Traffic Flow Plan



The image above demonstrates the new traffic flow for both schools. There are two points of interest on this map, #1 and #2.

Point #1 is both East Hamilton Middle's and Apison Elementary's entrance. It is also the exit for Apison Elementary's traffic and the exit for the residents of Bentwood Cove. (See the AM and PM plans below for more details.)

Point #2 is the exit for East Hamilton's traffic. Please refrain from entering Apison Elementary's car line through this point. The only exception is for traffic seeking to park at Apison Elementary. (More about this exception in the "Explanation of Parking at Apison" at the end of this page.) 

2. A Visual Walk-Through of Apison Elementary's AM Traffic Plan



The AM Plan

1. Cars turn from East Brainerd Road onto Bentwood Cove Drive
2. Stay right and turn to drive behind the school
3. Stay left, please don’t drive through the Buses Only Area (right lanes)
4. Follow the lanes, keep the playground on your right
5. Continue following the loop right, there will be a stop sign
6. Continue forward, staying in the 2 right lanes
   1. The left lanes, separated by the median, are for East Hamilton’s exit
7. Turn right at the second stop sign to drive in front of the school
8. Follow the inner loop to the front door for student drop off
   1. Follow the outer loop and turn left to park (green arrow)
9. After dropping off your child continue around the one way loop
10. Exit onto Bentwood Cove Drive (white arrow)
11. Exit onto East Brainerd road

3. A Visual Walk-Through of Apison Elementary's PM Traffic Plan



The image above is an outline for the afternoon traffic flow. It is important to note that cars will enter the traffic pattern the same way that they entered the AM traffic pattern. The difference is that they will be PARKING in the various lanes marked with the yellow & orange markers. Please respect the empty space indicated by Point #1 and Point #2. If you are the first car in line, please pull all the way to the line indicated by Point #3. There will be a painted line on the road.

* Please click HERE for the full, illustrated afternoon traffic plan in an attached Word document. *

Here are a few highlights of the afternoon traffic flow. 

The lanes around Apison Elementary are going to be numbered. The lanes around the school should soon be marked with #1, #2, #3, and Bus Lane. Here is how the numbered lanes will be arranged.


Here are detailed views of each section, showing the new lane numbers.

Front Car Lanes


Side Car Lanes


Back Car Lanes 1


Back Car Lanes 2


Lanes #2 and #3 are the main travel lanes. As you can see, Lane #1 only exists in the Front and Side sections. Lane #1 is the Bentwood Cove Lane. This lane is designated as a RIGHT TURN ONLY lane. The Bentwood Cove Walker Dismissal section was eliminated by the entryway into East Hamilton Middle School. If you are parked in this lane you will be required to turn right at the end of the Front Car Lanes. One of the reasons Point #2 on the Apison PM Traffic Flow Map is kept free of parked cars is to allow additional residents of Bentwood Cove to drive around and through East Hamilton Middle’s lanes to access this lane.

For those of you that are new to Apison Elementary, here is a little more information about the student dismissal process. 

The car lanes around the building will begin to fill up with parked cars sometime before Apison Elementary begins our student dismissal process at 3:45 PM. Please note that East Hamilton Middle will be dismissing before Apison. Please be aware of their traffic dismissing and follow our described traffic flow. 

There will be teachers stationed at Point #1, Point #2, and Point #3 when dismissal officially begins at 3:45. These teachers are with students up until this point, please respect the spacing and gaps mentioned within the Word document above.

The students dismissing through the car line will exit the school at the door closest to Point #3. They will then travel up the sidewalk to Point #3 and walk through the entire car line, between the cars. Please have your car turned off when the students enter the car line. A teacher will lead each grade level group. 

Please remain parked until the teacher managing your section of the car line dismisses the traffic. If you can’t see the teacher, that’s okay. The cars ahead of you will begin moving in an orderly fashion. This will be your signal to go. 

The Front Car Lanes will dismiss onto Bentwood Cove Drive, and then move on to East Brainerd Road. The Side Car Lanes can dismiss straight ahead, following the white arrow at Point #2. They can also turn to dismiss through the Front Car Lanes depending on traffic congestion levels. Once the teacher at Point #2 dismisses the traffic, they are free to leave.

The Back Car Lanes are free to dismiss following the same process that the Side Car Lanes above use. Please stay in the 2 right lanes until you have reached the second stop sign at Point #2. The teacher at Point #1 will signal when these lanes are free to dismiss.

4. An Explanation of Parking at Apison Elementary



Parents and visitors have two choices for entering the parking lot at Apison Elementary. The parking lot will soon be repainted to reflect the new parking options. There are three points of interest to consider.

Point #1 is one way to access the parking lot at Apison Elementary. Turn off of East Brainerd Road and onto Apison's drive. Please remember to stay right as the other three lanes are exiting onto East Brainerd Road. Please note the marked "Don't Enter" section of the drive. You will turn LEFT into Point #2.

Point #2 is the section of Apison's parking area that will be repainted with parking spaces that can be entered from either direction. These spaces will be at a 90 degree angle as opposed to the current 45 degree angle to accommodate the new traffic direction. These 90 degree spaces WILL NOT be expand throughout the entire parking area. They will only be added to Point #2 of the parking lot. To exit, please leave through the same section that you used to enter the parking lot.

Point #3 is the second way to enter the parking lot at Apison Elementary. This parking lot access will require the car(s) to travel around the building, following the AM or PM traffic flow in a complete loop. Following the red arrows, enter the parking lot at Point #3. Please note, Point #3's entrance is ONE WAY. All traffic will exit the parking lot at Point #2. The parking spaces throughout Point #3 will be at a 45 degree angle to the one way flow of traffic.