Natalie Lopez, Executive Editor
@nlopezcourant
Emma Shullman, Executive Editor
@eshullman1
Every morning, do you sit in agony for 15 minutes watching the clock slowly tick by, waiting to inch your car forward just enough to make the light and get to the first period on time? After school every day do you feel like you’re putting your safety on the line while rushing out of school with urgency to beat the traffic? Will the traffic pattern problem ever be solved?
The school didn’t always have one entrance, “about ten years ago, there used to be two entrances in front. Then the bus depot built an office down there, and that’s where they park all the buses. They put up the gate to close it off, so for the past ten years, there’s only been one entrance and exit,” said Lead Campus Monitor David Wannagot.
For the past ten years since the construction of the bus depot behind the school, the school has had one entrance. The two entrances previously had helped alleviate the traffic in the morning and afternoon. “It used to take me three minutes to get to school. I could pull up to that lot at 7:10 and I would be in my classroom at 7:13 with a hot cup of coffee,” English teacher Evan Remley said.
Mr. Wannagot said that he counted up to 1400 cars that go through the intersection in front of the school every morning. What could the school do to alleviate the traffic flow of that many cars?
A solution which administrators are looking into now is cutting a path through Waveny Park to the school near Dunning and the new turf field. “There was talk about an entrance through Waveny when they remodeled the school ten years ago, but they decided against doing it,” Principal William Egan said. “However, we are looking back into it and I think it might happen next year. They might cut a path, or road, through Waveney and add additional parking, so there’ll be an exit out of the highschool there.”
The school is looking into the plan again, despite it not being put into effect ten years ago, “opening up the back would really help the situation, and I know the superintendent was looking into it. He would like to do it also. It’s up to the town, because that’s actually town property,” Mr. Wannagot said.
Although, a possible obstacle to this solution could be a traffic buildup within Waveny. Since the park is town property, it would have to be approved by the town before anything can be done. “The superintendent was getting a hold of the town to find out from Waveny Park because it’s going to cause a lot of traffic going out of there. So that’s where we’re at right now with the traffic,” Mr. Wannagot said.
Would this new plan have a major impact on traffic everyday? “Entering the high school from waveny would make an enormous difference. Even if it’s only 20 percent going that way, then you’re losing 20 percent from another side. My bet would be that it would help a lot,” Mr. Remley said.
But, there is still another loose end: the new school start times. How could these changes impact the already large traffic dispute?
There is no way of telling how the possible new start times could influence traffic. “The problem with the time schedule is really with the buses, making sure they have enough time to drop off and pick up with the three tiers. This is difficult to predict, because we really don’t know what it’ll be like until we actually do it,” Mr. Wannagot said.
