By Carol Bello, Features Editor, and Tyler Conway, Staff Writer
River Hill High School’s parking lot has caused morning arrival and dismissal to often be a severe challenge as well as a major inconvenience for students, parents, and teachers. The parking lot’s unique design has left students and parents stuck in traffic in the mornings if they have not arrived early enough, resulting in tardiness for many students. The increase in student drivers along with traffic both entering and departing the school has students concerned and in need of a more efficient system.
Time is of the essence both in the morning and afternoon for students in order for them to beat traffic. Every minute can be crucial, and there is a specific window of time that needs to be met if a student wants to make it out on time. Students who tend to live closer to school are more likely to sleep later since they don’t need to leave as much time to get to school. However, more student drivers with this particular situation are finding that this is not the case.
Leaving last minute leaves them stuck in the morning traffic on Route 108, and unless they violate traffic laws, they are usually subject to tardiness penalties. The light at the intersection between Sheppard and Rt 108 assists drivers in getting to school in a fair amount of time. This addition has been appreciated greatly from students coming from the Ellicott City area. “It’s frustrating making it to school on time because there is only one entrance and exit to the school,” says senior Brian Glenn.
One of the major barriers and set-backs that students see are the buses. The buses depart at roughly 2:15 every afternoon, leaving student drivers literally trapped at the top of the parking lot as they have to wait for each one to pass by. “It takes a half an hour to get out of the parking lot,” says Stephanie Arnouk.
With the traffic build up, not only do students get home later, but they are more likely to be involved in an accident due to the rush of trying to get home or to an after school activity.
The structure of the school’s parking lot hinders the number of cars available to make their exit. “The parking lot design was doomed from the beginning,” says student Taylor Sherlock. There are only two ways to both enter and exit the parking lot into the lane leading traffic to 108. Once the buses leave at 2:15, they block off both entrances for about four minutes leaving cars at a stand still until the light changes. Some students are not in favor of the way some classmate’s park. Student Maddy Briel says, “I hate it when people pull through; it makes it harder to leave the parking lot because you have to back out.”
The solution to these concerns is not optimistic. Seeing as there is no funding or time for changes to the parking lot structure itself, the problem is unlikely to be altered. However as more concerns accumulate, the problem is likely to be consulted by staff. In the mean time, students will continue to either rush to school in hopes of beating the traffic, or wait in a long line of cars as they anticipate arriving to or departing school.