The Federal Way School District is looking at purchasing more land.
The school board authorized the district to take the first steps in buying land on Tuesday. The decision came after the district was told it needed to connect 13th Place to 332nd Street, next to the future site of the transportation center, as part of their construction.
Currently, the road comes off of 336th Street before coming to a dead end.
If the district were to expand the road using the land it currently owns, the district would be forced to take out a significant chunk of planned bus parking spots.
Instead, the school board authorized the district to look into buying the land adjacent to the property and connecting the road there, keeping all of its current parking.
The district will now go about making an offer for the former Pacific Coast Ford property, spokeswoman Deb Stenberg said.
“The idea is to purchase (the land) to push the access route,” Stenberg said. “It’s more about maximizing the parking on the property.”
If an offer is accepted, the board would still have to approve the deal before it could be finalized.
The topic was originally discussed by the board in a closed executive session earlier in the evening.
The remodel of the transportation center is part of the $149 million bond passed in 2007. The transportation center is expected to be done in 2011 and has a budget of $15 million.
The district’s Web site lists the plan for the transportation center to be rebuilt and relocated to a site near Celebration Park. Access in and out of the site will be improved for the approximately 150 school buses that come and go from the bus yard each day. With drive-through bays, mechanics will be able to perform maintenance on the buses more efficiently and comfortably. There will even be an environmentally-friendly, water-recycling bus wash.
By 2013, the nutrition services and maintenance departments will also be relocated next to the transportation center, and the District Support Services center will be complete. The nutrition and maintenance remodels also have a $15 million budget each.
