The associations and school district teamed up to discuss traffic patterns, crosswalk safety and parking on Feb. 9.

"The meeting's timing is so perfect because everything is in a construction mode," said MaryAnn Rokovich, director of professional development and special projects for the school district.

Redevelopment money had been allocated through the Strong Neighborhood Initiatives program in 2002 for traffic and pedestrian safety, and the funds were approved by city council, but the work was never completed. It is a project the neighborhood has worked on for a long time, said North Willow Glen resident Kevin Christman, even before the 2002 approval by the city.

After the funding was approved, a number of events delayed the implementation of any improvements to traffic and pedestrian safety. These delays include a changeover in staff at Gardner Academy and the four-alarm fire that hit the school in November 2003.

There is, however, still $200,000 to be used for traffic and pedestrian safety mitigation, issues that remain on the neighborhood's top 10 priority list.

The neighborhood has placed street and sidewalk improvements, improved parking, traffic circulation and pedestrian safety at Gardner Academy has its second priority.

Christman said it was nice to finally sit down to discuss the needs of both the neighborhood and the district, and where to go from here.

"Some ideas brought to the table included making Williams Street one-way," said Lou-Anna Solaris, Gardner Academy outreach coordinator, after the meeting.

Christman said the neighbors liked that idea, along with suggesting the possibility of incorporating diagonal parking for teachers into the plans. The district, however, didn't like the diagonal parking idea, citing student safety concerns.

"It's just a starting point," Christman said.

Another idea was to etch out an area with a drive-through to pick up and drop off students at the rear of the school to make it safer for buses, Solaris said.

Adding to the safety element, the idea of improving the pathway that goes from Williams Street to Bird Avenue, the lighting and the fencing were also mentioned, Christman said.

"What the community and district would like were almost congruent," Rokovich said. "That was a sigh of relief."