As the largest elementary school in the Mankato Area School District, Franklin Elementary becomes a very busy place twice a day.

Especially when the first day of school and the return of nearly 700 students coincides with a major detour on Riverfront Drive that leads motorists right past the corner of the school.

“It’s a mess,” said Franklin Principal Les Koppendrayer about the effects of the detour on pick-up and drop-off times. “During those few minutes at the beginning and end of the school day, it’s going to be busy.”

By 7:45 a.m. Thursday — which was the first day back for Mankato elementary and junior high students — traffic was backed up for blocks in three directions.

The Riverfront detour reroutes northbound motorists onto Second Street before they cross Madison Avenue. Motorists then follow Second Street to Lafayette Street — which runs along the south side of the school property — where they turn west and reconnect with Riverfront.

But as students began filtering into school, the intersection at Second and Lafayette streets became more crowded. By 8 a.m., traffic on Second Street was backed up well past Madison Avenue and beyond Vine Street while traffic was also backed up in both directions on Lafayette.

Rodney and Megan Baisch were among those who walked their children to school Thursday. Megan said the streets near Franklin are usually crowded when school is starting and ending (school lets out at 2:40 p.m.), but the detour makes the traffic even more intense.

“It’s usually busy,” Megan said, clutching the hand of her 4-year-old son, the only one of her three children not yet old enough to attend class.

“But not this bad.”

In the meanwhile, Koppendrayer said the school will rely on crossing guards to shepherd students away from that intersection. Most students who walk to Franklin can avoid the intersection anyway because most of them are walking to school from the east.

City Manager Pat Hentges said there really were no other options for detouring traffic around the Riverfront and Madison intersection because of the size and placement of the school. He also said city officials will be reviewing the traffic patterns along the detour to see if there are any temporary solutions to minimize safety concerns, especially before and after school start time.

Hentges said the original plan was to have the detour lifted before school started, but the large volume of city road construction projects has pushed the schedule back.

“We’re hoping to be complete by the end of the month,” Hentges said.

Dakota Meadows Middle School in North Mankato also is facing a traffic issue with the closing of Lor Ray Drive. For now, motorists can only enter Howard Drive — which leads past the front of the school — from Lookout Drive.

With classes beginning at the junior high at 8:15 a.m., vehicles were stretched along Lookout Drive all the way to the exit ramp on Highway 14. Vehicles were also bumper to bumper along Howard Drive as parents exited the school after dropping off their students.