The Pleasant Valley School Board approved the land appraisal from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for land in front of the high school it needs in order to widen Route 209.

PennDOT plans to construct a roundabout in front of the high school and one at the intersection of Routes 209 and 115, a short distance down the road.

According to a recent presentation by James Lynch, a partner at D’Huy Engineering Inc. in Bethlehem, the roundabouts will be two lanes wide in both directions for a total of four lanes. A Jersey barrier will prevent traffic from crossing the lanes to go into the parking lots of businesses.

The project is projected to take four years to construct with the moving of electric poles beginning in December. The expected cost is about $20 million.

Rite Aid, Subway and LynnDees are losing their property entirely, while some, like the school district, are losing a portion of their property.

The district will receive $324,700 for their property, which is a portion of the parking lot in front of the high school.

William Gasper, the director of operations, told the board that approving the appraisal doesn’t prevent them from initiating a challenge to it sometime within the next six years, but it had to be approved at that Thursday night meeting. If they didn’t approve it, then it would go into the court system, which would cost the district money.

“I’m still concerned about this,” said school board Director Laura Jecker. “PennDOT and the state are just taking advantage of the district. Nowhere else in the state do they have a roundabout in front of a high school.”

Jecker said she is upset that a bar and a vape shop sit right across the street from the high school and wonders why there isn’t more concern for the welfare of the students.

“I just think people need to say something before it’s too late,” she said.

School board Director Dan Wunder said he would vote yes on the approval only because the district’s solicitor advised them to do so. Mark Fitzgerald, the school district’s solicitor, provides legal advice to the school board and administration.

Jecker said she also would vote yes for that same reason.