Our Perspective | Plan creates traffic problems for all
Crowding around: Students make their way to their buses at the end of the day Sept. 30. The new parking lot policy changes may make students navigate additional traffic to leave as well as increase the number of cars going down West 33rd Street. The added vehicles and people could make the street a more dangerous place for those leaving.
October 2, 2013
As students and faculty members adjust to new parking procedures, they should also increase their awareness of safety in the lots.
As of Sept. 30, the long lot is staff-only parking, while students must park in the circle lot.
The price of parking passes is also reduced from $45 per quarter to $45 per year.
While the price reduction is beneficial for students’ budgets, it may allow more students to park, causing demand for parking to exceed available space.
To avoid overflow the administration should sell only as many parking passes as spots available in the lot.
Additionally, the use of the lot and the surrounding area should be evaluated to increase safety. While the lot’s placement may be more convenient for students who need to enter through the circle doors, traffic after school could cause danger for both student drivers trying to exit the lot and pedestrians trying to get to their homes or buses.
Currently, the circle lot is difficult to exit. Buses lined along 33rd Street are very close to the exits for the lot, inhibiting visibility for drivers.
Students walking across these exits to reach their buses create further distractions. This, along with the amount of traffic caused by an increase in student use of the lot, could foster an environment for accidents.
The traffic also presents challenges to students who have commitments immediately after the school day.
To decrease the potential danger and inconvenience, the buses should be moved to the long lot for afternoon pickup.
This would reduce the number of pedestrians near the circle lot and increase visibility for drivers exiting that lot.
Staff members, who will now use the long lot, do not leave the school until 3:30 p.m. by contract.
Since buses leave the high school around 3:20 p.m., moving them to the long lot would not interfere with staff leaving.
Buses dropping students off in the morning could continue to do so on 33rd Street because their arrival times are more staggered.
As they adjust to these parking changes, staff and students should work together to promote safety and security.