The City of Charlottesville and Charlottesville City Schools are working together to improve safety and traffic flow around Summit Elementary during student arrival and dismissal. This year’s work builds on past engagement and data collection, and moves forward with a new Belmont Ave Dedicated Drop‑Off Pilot.

Summit experiences heavy vehicle traffic and high numbers of students walking or biking to school. Past observations show:

• Cars stopping in multiple unsafe locations along Belmont Ave
• Students exiting vehicles into bike or travel lanes
• Vehicles driving around stopped cars
• Sidewalk crowding and unpredictable traffic behavior

These challenges directly impact student safety.

Create a dedicated car drop-off lane on Belmont Ave.

• Bus loading moves to Tufton Ave
• Add a car drop-off lane on Monticello Ave
• Add all-way stop at Belmont & Meridian

• Temporarily (or permanently) restrict through traffic on Belmont Ave adjacent to the school; maintain access for buses, residents, special-needs access, deliveries, waste, and emergency vehicles.
• Bus loading could remain on Belmont or move to Tufton; add Monticello (or Tufton) drop-off; all-way stop at Belmont & Meridian.

Concerns:

Enforcement complexity (vetting eligibility for access)

potential traffic shift to Tufton/Monticello

resident access by car restricted during arrival/dismissal (alleys remain open).