After years of student requests, Principal Bryant Bednarek has finally opened a second exit in the parking lot. A trial period ran for two days, Thursday, Oct. 23, and Friday, Oct. 24, and the trial was successful enough to be implemented permanently.
“We have identified that we have more parents picking up their students than we ever have in the past, and that is creating some traffic issues at our entrance on Memorial Drive. We wanted to see what impact adding another exit for student drivers has on the congestion issue on Memorial Drive,” Bednarek said.
Despite the supposed increase in efficiency and reduction in traffic, many students and teachers say that the second gate opening will lead to more harm than good.
“I think it could cause a lot of issues. I think the student parking lot is already kind of a chaotic mess. And I think that’s just asking for more issues, for more accidents than we’ve already had,” business education teacher Lindsey Rost said.
Regardless, the opening of the gate does allow many student drivers to get to lunch or their homes faster.
“I’m in the far back row, so I might be able to leave quicker, but it could be at the cost of possibly being rear-ended,” junior Remington Olson said.
The main problem with the gate opening is the fact that cars will now have the option to move both left and right up the driveway into the parking lot. In the past, the driveway did go both ways, but during rushes, the motion was uniform.
“I think it’s a little ridiculous how they’re both entrance and exit. I feel like a lot of accidents are going to happen,” Olson said.
Not only does opening the gate cause issues with student drivers, but it also brings additional risks for teachers. Their pathway to leave is now connected to the pathway of student drivers, potentially reducing their time for lunch and increasing their risks of an accident.
“Well, I’m not the only teacher who goes home for lunch every single day. I hightail it out of here just like a lot of other students do in order to go let the dog out, eat my lunch, and settle down for a second,” Rost said. “I mean, that’s limiting my time now as well. I am on a time crunch just like these students are, and I think it could cause some issues, and it makes me a little nervous.”
If the parking lot traffic remains efficient and student drivers drive carefully and slowly, the gate will remain open; however, Bednarek wants to make it clear that the parking lot as a whole is a privilege and not a right.
“I also have concerns with traffic going in two directions versus one. If students are not cautious and courteous drivers, this likely will not work,” Bednarek said.
