HUTCHINSON, Kan. —It turns out there will not be a controlled intersection at 30th and Lucille for Prairie Hills Middle School traffic.

After a long discussion, the Buhler USD 313 School Board voted 5-0 to deny a request from the City of Hutchinson to share in the cost of a stoplight at the intersection. The intersection will see much more traffic this school year because of the closing of the bridge at 43rd Avenue and Old K-61.

The Hutchinson City Council then came to a consensus Tuesday that if the school district was not going to share in the $13,000 cost, then the project would not continue. The poles that were already in place will be taken down.

Not all of the council members wanted to see the project die. Councilwoman Jade Piros de Carvalho urged the city to move forward saying that just because other government entities don’t want to cooperate, why the city should do the same.

“This is negatively going to impact the citizens of Hutchinson,” Piros de Carvalho said.

City Manager John Deardoff was told of the decision by the Buhler School Board Tuesday morning stating that the district was informed that they should not spend education dollars on such projects.

While Piros de Carvalho was pushing for the lights to be in place, the rest of the council was more than in agreement that if the district didn’t want to help out, then the project would not go on. ” It just seems reasonable to me that this would be a joint effort,” Councilman Steve Dechant said.

For the Buhler Schol District, it means potential traffic issues, especially at the end of the school day. In the end, it was a recommendation from the state that steered the USD 313 School Board in the direction they took. ” We really wanted to work with the city but we contacted our state association and our state department of ed and their strong recommendation was to not use education money for roads and traffic signals,” USD 313 Superintendent Mike Berblinger said. “We were hoping to have a light there, but if that’s not what’s going to happen we’re going to continue to work with our people to do the best job we can to keep everyone as safe as we can,” Berblinger added.

The traffic issue arose after the small bridge on 43rd Avenue was condemned by the county leaving only one way out of the Prairie Hills area, other than taking roads through residential areas to the east of the school. The district has already made plans for traffic during the start and end of the school day. Those plans have been sent out to parents in the district.