This year, the school has managed to resolve the long-troubling issue of traffic through the administration’s restyled drop-off and pick-up procedures.
Before, most vehicles were funneled through a primary entrance on Herriman Avenue across Lexington Court, while the new plan distributes traffic-flow across multiple entrances.
In addition, separate drop-off and pick-up paths are now clearly marked for the vehicles.
The opening opposite Lexington Court in the old system was the only allowed entrance for drop-off and pick-up, essentially becoming a choke point by forcing vehicles from all three directions to funnel through it. This caused back-ups in both directions on Herriman Avenue and Saratoga Sunnyvale Road.
Once vehicles entered, they were allowed to split into two directions past the parking-lots: one toward Zappelli Court in the back of the school and the other toward an exit along the sports courts, leading to even more chaotic traffic conditions. During pick-up hours, throngs of cars would wait along the rear of the cafeteria, gym, locker room and tennis courts for their students to jump in, resulting in unnecessarily crowded lanes.
Of course, wiser parents could choose to park and wait for their students to cross over instead of proceeding beyond the parking lots to wait in a long line, but even then, getting into the school itself and finding the right moment to pull into an available parking-space was a burden due to the heavy traffic along the road.
Thankfully, the new system has fixed these problems through better organization.
Now during drop-off, vehicles entering through the main entrance cannot choose between two directions when driving beyond the parking-lots: They can only drop their students off along the sidewalks behind the cafeteria’s rear and exit through Zappelli Court, as in the morning, the left turn (relative to the driver) is blocked by a white fence.
In a clever move, the school also decided to repurpose the exit along the sports courts into a new entrance. Vehicles driving from there past the parking lots now must turn right and exit through the opening immediately after the one nearest to the plaza.
Proceeding forward is not allowed, as the lane is blocked off by another white fence.
Because there are more pick-up, drop-off and parking entrances, cars are dispersed across several points along Herriman Avenue. The dispersion has not only significantly reduced congestion but also enhanced safety for students and pedestrians alike.
Such changes contrast starkly with the previous, more loosely organized system, indicating the school’s increasing awareness of its own efficiency problems and willingness, matched with capacity, to change them.
