The Parking Lot
There is a huge change coming. Its not huge because it upends everything we know; its huge because it affects literally everyone coming to Grace United Methodist Church. We are changing the traffic pattern of our parking lot! Starting April 25th, all vehicles will enter the church at the current exit and exit at the current entrance. Earlier in the year there was a very scary incident of a driver who by-passed a traffic barrier and was headed straight toward a nursery school parade. That was on top of years of increasing incidences from visitors and delivery trucks since the pandemic. The nursery school director, Donna Ernst, brought this to my attention and here’s what we did:
November 2025 - Pastor Brian and Director Donna Ernst met with with the Wyckoff Police for an evaluation of the parking lot
December 2025 - The Wyckoff Police gave a final recommendation to the church with three proposals
January 2026 - Pastor Brian and Director Donna Ernst met with the Nursery School Board to share their concerns. The matter was referred to the Trustees
January 2026 - Pastor Brian and Director Donna Ernst met with the Trustees. The Trustees formed a sub-committee to review the three Wyckoff Police proposals and solicited bids for new traffic barriers
March 2026 - At the next Trustees meeting the board approved the purchase of seven traffic barriers. The order was placed 6 days later. A tentative plan for a new traffic pattern was discussed and approved with some details still to be worked out
April 2026 - With a nursery school spring break scheduled for April 20th-24th, a new traffic pattern will be installed
New traffic pattern begins April 25th
We believe the solution to this ongoing problem is to reverse our traffic pattern. By having people enter at what is the current exit, the first thing people will encounter is the entrance to the nursery school. If the barrier is in the open position, vehicles can pass through to the back parking lot. If it is closed, though, vehicles will need to wait to enter, or park and walk to the church entrance in the back parking lot. When vehicles in the back parking lot conclude their business in the church, they can exit across the front of the church building unimpeded. This allows the nursery school to protect students and parents near the nursery school parking lot throughout the day without disrupting the exit of vehicles near the church office parking. This might mean that, during the day, sometimes you have to wait to park in the back lot near the church office. I find this to be a far superior situation to turning the corner from the back lot and having to wait to leave! Now you have a choice. You can sit and wait for the barrier to be moved when the coast is clear to park in the back lot, or you can simply park and walk to the church office.
Remember, April 23rd and 24th the whole church parking lot will be closed to redesign our traffic pattern. On April 25th you’ll need to enter at our current exit and exit at our current exit. The path to the back parking lot near the office will enter by the nursery school and exit at the front of the church. We know change can be difficult, and these parking lot changes may feel unnecessary for those who mostly use the church in the evening and on the weekend, but this is important for the safety at our school. We appreciate your cooperation and we look forward to a safe and secure environment for our nursery school and the church. God bless!
— Pastor Brian Neville