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Maneuvering Through the CHS Parking Lot By Kaitlyn Osberg
Lyndsey Ward, a CHS junior, and a new driver since November, said, “Yes, it is hard getting out of the parking lot because of how many people drive to school and not only that, but half of them don’t even have parking passes so it makes it 100 times harder” to get out.
If you drive to school or get a ride from someone, how long does it usually take you to get out of the parking lot after school? Students and staff at Coventry High School have been struggling with congestion and slow moving traffic since 2010.
According to Principal Hobin, “No student should be taking risky behavior to get out of the parking lot quickly. The congestion is that people are not patient enough to wait.”
The problem with kids driving to school is that when the bell rings at 1:55, everyone runs out of the school to get to their cars so they don’t have to get stuck behind the buses. The risk is that the driver can hit someone’s car, or someone, since they’re rushing and not paying full attention. Bringing someone home can also be a distraction if friends are fooling around and the driver ends up getting into an accident. In an article titled, “After School Dismissal Safety,” the “vast majority of schools experience a sort of ‘rush hour’ during dismissal. This traffic poses great danger for everyone, particularly students.”
Principal Hobin stated, “As an admin team we need to do a better job of making sure that kids who don’t have permission to park here don’t have a car on campus, because we have too many kids that are driving to school and parking in spaces that they are not assigned to and that will also add to the congestion.”
When Mr. Hobin first started as Principal, kids were parking where the staff park now. However, students were able to easily ditch class. The school noticed that more and more kids were leaving school grounds because no one saw them leave. Administration ended up moving the students to the front of the school, thus eliminating some of the ditching.
Lyndsey Ward, a CHS junior, and a new driver since November, said, “Yes, it is hard getting out of the parking lot because of how many people drive to school and not only that, but half of them don’t even have parking passes so it makes it 100 times harder” to get out.
Lyndsey stated that the parking lot “is a little more chaotic than it should,” and one solution could be to have “one exit for buses and one exit for students.” She also thinks “the school should set a certain time for the buses to leave so everyone knows an exact time when they should be at their cars because it’s a huge struggle to try and beat the buses. Everyday they leave at a different time so it’s impossible if you want to make it home quick, rather than 45 minutes.” Lyndsey will soon be a senior and hopes that the school will try and help fix the parking lot traffic so everyone can get home safely.
One solution to solve the traffic problem would be to change the flow, or simply put, to change the direction in which the traffic comes into the school. For instance, instead of having people come in through the main driveway, what if they went out that way? It would move the traffic farther down Reservoir Rd and up Clubhouse which would make it easier for students and staff coming into the school. Research has shown that taking right hand turns are easier and you have a smaller chance of hitting someone than taking left hand turns. Buses would come in the same way as the traffic does, and since they have to drop kids off on specific side, they would loop the brown parking lot and pull up where they would’ve if the direction of the traffic didn’t change. This would eliminate the congestion getting into the school and would decrease the traffic on Reservoir Road in the morning.
Another solution to solve the traffic problem would be to change the morning drop off route. Principal Hobin has noticed that the dumpsters are a main spot to drop off in the morning because it’s right near room 111 and students can just walk in and they are in the main part of the school. Instead of having parents come in through the entrance near the dumpsters and creating a circle, they would go in the last entrance before the football field and go all the way down to the end of that lot. Then they would just pull up to door 19 near the gym, drop off the kids and drive out. This would eliminate people hitting other cars, or students almost getting run over in the morning.
The last solution to solve the traffic problem after school would be to have students wait out the line to get out of the parking lot in the main lobby. It would decrease the number of cars around people and the number of accidents that could happen. Students and staff are going to get out eventually, it just takes time, and honestly what’s the rush? All you are going to do is sit in your car waiting for the buses to go. If students waited for the buses to leave then they wouldn’t be rushing to beat the buses and then they wouldn’t accidentally hit someone.