Beginning Friday, August 22, faculty, staff, coaches, student athletes and other visitors to the Niskayuna High School campus should park in the new parking lot to the right of the Balltown Road entrance. The parking area adjacent to the high school pool entrance will no longer be available after Thursday, August 21. Traffic patterns (resembling final traffic patterns once the building project is complete in 2010) and parking arrangements will change slightly for the 2008-09 school year. For safety reasons, specific areas will be limited to one-way traffic. The traffic patterns are outlined below:

1. Parents dropping off children will enter the campus via the Balltown Road entrance, turn LEFT at the stop sign and drop children off by the pool. There will be a turn around at that location, as well as 30 parking spaces designated as visitor, pool and handicapped parking. All traffic will exit via Balltown Road. (Please note that the temporary entrance and exit by the old student lot will no longer be available in the fall.)

2. Parents dropping off children for music will enter the campus via Balltown Road, turn RIGHT at the stop sign and proceed to the newly constructed circle in the area where the high school's new front entrance will be constructed. After dropping off children, parents will proceed out via Balltown Road. A temporary barrier preventing traffic from moving from the front parking area to the rear parking area (Nott Street) will be in place. This barrier may be removed for special events. A clearly-marked temporary walkway to the music area will be available for students who arrive for morning music lessons via school bus from the Nott Street entrance.

3. The new student/staff parking lot is directly over the geothermal fields. Traffic entering from Balltown Road will find three entrances to this new lot. The first entrance is immediately to the right from Balltown Road. Two rows of parking, approximately 50 spaces, will be reserved for staff; one on the north edge of the parking lot (by the driveway) and the other on east edge of the parking lot (by the music area and location of new high school entrance). The remaining rows will be reserved for student parking. A second entrance to the lot is located immediately after the stop sign on the right, before the new traffic circle. The third entrance will be located at the new circle. All traffic exiting the student/staff parking lot must turn RIGHT and follow the circle around to the driveway leading out to Balltown Road.

4. The Nott street entrance will once again be reserved for school buses and staff parking ONLY. All bus and auto traffic will proceed ONE WAY so that buses can safely drop off and pick up students before circling around and exiting via Nott Street. Once in the parking lot, traffic will proceed one way, to available staff parking spaces or to exit the lot. It is anticipated that the staff lot will be available for the beginning of school. An additional parking area, near the current music doors, will provide another 45 or so parking spaces. While this area by music will not be available on September 2, it is expected that it will be ready as the school year progresses. The new bus loop by the tennis courts will not be ready for use in Fall 2008, nor will the 20 or so staff parking spaces adjacent to the loop.

Download a map that details the new traffic patterns at the high school campus.
Please note: Traffic changes and parking restrictions are subject to change as the building project progresses throughout the 2008-09 school year.
If you have questions or would like more information, please call Assistant Principal Mark Treanor at 382-2511, ext. 4072.

(August 2008)