Recent proposals to changes made to the parking lots and traffic problems at Roberson has sparked reactions among some the upperclassmen student drivers.
Beginning on Sept. 17, the access road between the junior and senior parking lots was turned into a one-way road, open to seniors entering from Springside Road and coming down into the senior parking lot in the mornings, and open to seniors leaving the lower parking lot in the afternoons to exit via Springside. In addition, the gate entering the senior lot from Long Shoals Road will be opened in the mornings, but will remain locked in the afternoons.
According to assistant principal Chris Collins, the decision to change the traffic patterns was made in hopes to improve student safety.
“The main reason that it has changed is due to the lack of a sidewalk for students to walk down, especially when traffic is going both ways. The road is too narrow there to have cars going in both directions and students walking down in the road. Plus, as it gets closer to 7:45 a.m., the cars start to go faster and the students aren’t paying as much attention because they don’t want to get a tardy,” Collins said.
Plans to add extra safety measures have been proposed by the administration and are awaiting further action.
“Our plan right now is to extend the sidewalk that begins behind the softball field all the way up into the junior parking lot, and to widen the road connecting the upper and lower lots by the stadium so that we can have it be two-lanes with traffic moving in both directions,” Collins said.
“All it takes is one mistake by a student or a driver, and then we would have a big problem for the school, which we do not want to happen.”
The frustration and confusion as to why the Springside entrance was rumored to be closed off to seniors led senior Gena Scully to make a petition to stop this cause.
“It’s going to be a problem, especially for seniors in the lower lot. There will be more traffic and it might cause more tardies,” said Scully.
As of Monday, Scully had 106 seniors sign her petition, and planned to bring to the administration when she filled a page with signatures.
“Apparently they made this decision because this was a safety hazard, which doesn’t seem relevant,” Scully said.
Junior Savannah Caudle feels that this change will make her morning more chaotic.
“I come in off of Long Shoals, because it’s easier traffic-wise. So now it will take me a little bit longer to get to school, as I’ll now have to go around to get to the junior lot. It’s just really irritating,” Caudle said
Senior Pooja Patel has similar feelings.
“This means that I’m going to have to wake up fifteen minutes earlier, leave fifteen minutes earlier, and face more traffic. I’m kind of scared to drive on Long Shoals, because it’s dangerous,” Patel said
Senior Kyle Bleiweis agrees that the predicament is stressful.
“I drive through Biltmore Park and used to come through the math lot. But once they closed that off, I had to change my route. Driving on Long Shoals just adds more stress to the situation,” Bleiweis said
To help combat the problem of driving on Long Shoals, the administration added a third lane into the school’s main entrance as a way to help the morning traffic and also created an alternative exit to allow drivers to make left-hand turns onto Long Shoals Road more easily in the afternoons. The exit lane is hoped to be used to decrease traffic congestion, but will remain closed until a traffic light is installed at the Long Shoals and Miami Circle intersection.
“We have been having meetings with the Department of Transportation (DOT), and have another scheduled for next week. After that, we will know more about the status of the light,” Collins said.
Beginning on Sept. 17, the access road between the junior and senior parking lots was turned into a one-way road, open to seniors entering from Springside Road and coming down into the senior parking lot in the mornings, and open to seniors leaving the lower parking lot in the afternoons to exit via Springside. In addition, the gate entering the senior lot from Long Shoals Road will be opened in the mornings, but will remain locked in the afternoons.
According to assistant principal Chris Collins, the decision to change the traffic patterns was made in hopes to improve student safety.
“The main reason that it has changed is due to the lack of a sidewalk for students to walk down, especially when traffic is going both ways. The road is too narrow there to have cars going in both directions and students walking down in the road. Plus, as it gets closer to 7:45 a.m., the cars start to go faster and the students aren’t paying as much attention because they don’t want to get a tardy,” Collins said.
Plans to add extra safety measures have been proposed by the administration and are awaiting further action.
“Our plan right now is to extend the sidewalk that begins behind the softball field all the way up into the junior parking lot, and to widen the road connecting the upper and lower lots by the stadium so that we can have it be two-lanes with traffic moving in both directions,” Collins said.
“All it takes is one mistake by a student or a driver, and then we would have a big problem for the school, which we do not want to happen.”
The frustration and confusion as to why the Springside entrance was rumored to be closed off to seniors led senior Gena Scully to make a petition to stop this cause.
“It’s going to be a problem, especially for seniors in the lower lot. There will be more traffic and it might cause more tardies,” said Scully.
As of Monday, Scully had 106 seniors sign her petition, and planned to bring to the administration when she filled a page with signatures.
“Apparently they made this decision because this was a safety hazard, which doesn’t seem relevant,” Scully said.
Junior Savannah Caudle feels that this change will make her morning more chaotic.
“I come in off of Long Shoals, because it’s easier traffic-wise. So now it will take me a little bit longer to get to school, as I’ll now have to go around to get to the junior lot. It’s just really irritating,” Caudle said
Senior Pooja Patel has similar feelings.
“This means that I’m going to have to wake up fifteen minutes earlier, leave fifteen minutes earlier, and face more traffic. I’m kind of scared to drive on Long Shoals, because it’s dangerous,” Patel said
Senior Kyle Bleiweis agrees that the predicament is stressful.
“I drive through Biltmore Park and used to come through the math lot. But once they closed that off, I had to change my route. Driving on Long Shoals just adds more stress to the situation,” Bleiweis said
To help combat the problem of driving on Long Shoals, the administration added a third lane into the school’s main entrance as a way to help the morning traffic and also created an alternative exit to allow drivers to make left-hand turns onto Long Shoals Road more easily in the afternoons. The exit lane is hoped to be used to decrease traffic congestion, but will remain closed until a traffic light is installed at the Long Shoals and Miami Circle intersection.
“We have been having meetings with the Department of Transportation (DOT), and have another scheduled for next week. After that, we will know more about the status of the light,” Collins said.