About the Contributor
RHS pushes to eliminate wrong-way traffic
Over the past two weeks RHS administrators, campus monitors and youth resource officer Kelley have been monitoring traffic exiting the parking lot at the end of Campo Street after student dismissal. Prior to this, it was common practice for students to use both the enter and exit lanes to empty the parking lot. The school is now trying to ensure students only utilize the exit lane when leaving the lot.
October 30, 2018
Roseville High School staff have started monitoring the Senior Lot after school to prevent students from using the enter lane to exit. Prior, students would often use both lanes to exit the lot in the minutes immediately following the 2:30 school dismissal.
According to assistant principal Jason Wilson, students using the enter lane to exit the parking lot only leads to reckless student driving and does not alleviate traffic.
“We have cars circumventing, cutting the line, stopping people. They keep on cutting and it creates a traffic jam,” Wilson said. “If everyone cooperates, everyone will actually spend equal times in line and will probably get out efficiently.”
Campus monitor Tonya Stauffer believes that students driving against the designated direction has left RHS with a more hostile environment.
“We’ve had fender benders, students angry at each other,” Stauffer said. “Everyone has somewhere to go, but when we’re cutting lines and going the wrong direction, it just creates issues for students.”
RHS staff now monitor the lot exit after dismissal to ensure students use the correct driveway.
Stauffer feels as though students driving the wrong way has become increasingly consequential.
“We’ve had students get so angry at each other that they’ve done things to each other’s cars in the parking lot for retaliation,” Stauffer said.
After school is released, many students frequent the path between the portables and the rest of RHS’ campus. Stauffer has also noticed an opportunity for danger here.
“It’s a hazard between the portables between students leaving and being distracted,” Stauffer said.
Many students, however, who park in Senior Lot feel that not using a merging system out of the parking lot leaves them with an inefficient process for exiting school grounds.
Senior Jessie Fisher feels the method of exiting in both lanes was beneficial for ease and efficiency.
“I know people are pretty upset about it and I am as well,” Fisher said. “I think it actually takes longer now to get out of the parking lot, because the way before — the zipper with one after the other — was efficient.”
Fisher also believes the recent pushes to enforce one-way traffic has made driving in Senior Lot increasingly perilous.
“[On October 19] someone got into a little [accident] and that’s not been happening since we go the other way,” Fisher said. “It just doesn’t seem beneficial to cause more of a traffic jam just because it’s the end of school.”
According to senior Andrew Gale, one-way traffic enforcement leads to lines of cars waiting to exit Senior Lot, often times complicating the process of students in parked vehicles joining the line.
Students exit the senior lot after school last Friday. After students began driving through the entry lane to exit the
lot, RHS staff began to monitor the area following student dismissal.
Gale believes that contrary to the intended reason, the enforcement of one-way traffic has placed him under unsafe circumstances.
“Everyone is trying to get home,” Gale said. “You need to have someone nice enough to let you in line or make your way in line which has only brought me in closer contact with other cars.”
Some students perceive their time in line as lengthened with the enforcement of one-way driving. This has interfered with certain aspects of some students’ personal endeavors. For example, junior Hailey McKay feels as though the practicality of the new lane is inconvenient regarding her own personal endeavors.
“I am late to work sometimes because of the new situation and it takes a lot longer to get out of the parking lot than it should,” McKay said.
