GROWING DISTRICT MEANS GROWING TRAFFIC

THE HIGH SCHOOL AND MIDDLE SCHOOL PARKING LOT AFTER SCHOOL; PHOTO BY JULIETA ORTIZ

The traffic in the parking lot after school is a growing problem, worsening each year in tune with the growing number of students. Everyone is rushing to leave and go home after a long day of school but the lack of patience only makes matters worse. The middle and high school’s dismissal times are only ten minutes apart which helps some but not much. There is only one exit available after 3:35 pm because the exit by the middle school gets closed off at that time so middle schoolers can get onto the school buses safely. While blocking off that exit is a reasonable measure to keep students safe, hundreds of cars are forced to get out of a single exit, and that creates a lot of congestion. With the way the district is growing, the problem will only get worse. 

STUDENT POLL ON THE PARKING LOT TRAFFIC; GRAPHIC BY JULIETA ORTIZ

A survey was sent out to the student body to get some input and opinions. One of the questions asked was, “How bad is the traffic in the parking lot after school in your opinion?” The options to answer the question were: not bad at all, it’s okay, could be better, bad, and awful. 55.7% of students responded with awful, 23.7% with bad, 15.5% with could be better, 4.1% with it’s okay, and 1% with not bad at all. These numbers show that the majority of students are unhappy with the parking lot traffic after school and agree that it’s a problem. The survey also asked if respondents have ever been involved in or witnessed a fender bender in the school parking lot. 37% of responses said yes. While fender benders are in the nature of busy parking lots, easing traffic could help lessen the chances of them occurring. The last question in the survey asked what they think could be done to help eliminate after school traffic. 

There was a common theme in the responses, with 36% of people saying that building another exit/entrance would help and 21% of people saying that staggered release times could work. 

Building another exit would allow everyone to get out of the parking lot sooner and would ease traffic. The main obstacles in doing this would be finding the place for it, having enough money for the project, and getting school board approval. Staggered release times were mentioned by many people in the survey. If the middle school and high school got dismissed more than ten minutes apart, that could help. Some students brought up the possibility of having staggered release times by grade for the high school. For example, if juniors got released at a certain time then sophomores got released five minutes later, and the freshmen five minutes after that. Changing the bus routes to allow the exit by the middle school to be open for longer could also help to allow more cars to leave at a time. For example, if the buses went to the middle school first and then picked up high school students, the exit by the middle school wouldn’t have to close at 3:35 pm. The middle school and high school’s release times would have to change in order for that to happen, however. 

In an interview, Mr. Daniel said that all of these possible solutions are out of his control and would have to come from above him, meaning it would have to be decided by the school board. He also said that he is open to any suggestions that people have. 

There are many possible solutions to this problem. One of them should be implemented before it gets any worse. Not only to ease traffic and allow people to get home sooner but also to prevent anyone from getting hurt. Easing traffic could lessen the chances of more serious fender benders or someone getting run over. While some solutions are more feasible than others, something will need to be done eventually because of the way our district is growing.