The bell rings, it is 3:20. The hallway is filled with chaos as students rush towards the doors to the student parking lot. They get in their cars and turn them on as fast as possible. All that rushing causes some to get out quickly and others to get into dangerous situations. Senior Alexa Fleegal has recently gotten into an accident in the student parking lot. 

“I had pulled out of the parking lot and was parallel to the Grace Lutheran Parking Lot. I was in the line of cars slowly moving towards the exit. That’s when all of a sudden a car rear-ended me,” Fleegal said. 

What could possibly fix the dangerous driving conditions and the traffic flow within the student parking lot? From an idea brought up in a past Red ‘n’ Green article about fixing issues within the student parking lot, a possible solution is to open the first gate in the student parking lot that connects to where the buses enter on Oak Street. 

“I like the idea, but it is not as easy as just saying we’re going to open the gate. It will need to be discussed with everyone for it to even be a possibility,” Director of Operations Josh Youngbauer said. “Just using it as a student parking lot exit could be a win, and it would make it a lot easier for parents to come into the front of the school for pick up and hopefully solve that traffic problem as well. Would it work? A person doesn’t know until we try it.”

With that being said, it is understood that many things would have to be done before this change could possibly happen.

“One thing that would need to be done before this can happen is to assess the timing. What time do the buses get to school? We would then log that for a few days. When does the first bus arrive and when does the last bus leave? These are all things we have to look at and see if we can work through that portion of it,” Youngbauer said. 

Another major part of this solution is what the bus company thinks. Students would only be allowed to exit through that gate until the buses start to leave. Terminal Manager Doris Holmes, gives her opinion on this situation. 

“I understand that for students, this situation would work. I feel that from the bus company standpoint, this would be an issue for us. Students would be pulling out in front of the buses causing danger for the buses and possibly for students using that crosswalk that is in the driveway,” Holmes said.

Students, however, would be turning right, and the cross walk is to the left of the driveway. The issue with students pulling out in front of the buses has happened before, though. 

“Back when the buses would line up to pick up in front of the High School, we had an issue with students pulling out in front of the buses,” Holmes said. “Principal Mork used to have to stand outside and direct traffic during this time to help with the traffic flow. It was advertised during that time that students should yield to the buses.”

In the end it is not known what will happen if the gate is opened, unless the gate is opened and that solution is put to the test. 

“I appreciate bringing a problem with a solution. I would always like to try possible solutions and we can go back if it does not work. This is something we can look into and explore. With the correct student attitude we can go from there,” Youngbauer said.