Published in the Current
A new traffic flow plan for getting cars into the high school area in the mornings will begin trials just after April vacation. Starting that Monday morning, April 28, traffic coming south on Route 77 will be able to turn right onto Jordan Way, the road between the police and fire stations.
According to a proposal drawn up by parents, police and town and school officials, cars will be allowed to drive down the road and through the gate by the fire station, which is usually locked.
Then they will have to go around the loop where buses drop off at Pond Cove School and down to the high school.
“They need to go around the circle, not just go in and take a left,” said Debbie Croft, president of the High School Parents Association.
There will be a stop sign added at the intersection of the Pond Cove access road and the road leading behind the high school toward the pool, Croft said.
There also will be a couple of speed bumps put on that road to the pool.
Cars will only be allowed to exit the high school at the normal exit, onto Route 77, and drivers coming north toward the high school will still have to turn left into the existing entry, Croft said.
The new route will be used in the mornings only. Croft said the traffic is less of an issue in the afternoon because it is more spread out across time; not everyone is trying to get out of the high school at the same time.
The trial will run until the end of the year, Croft said. At that point they will reassess the situation and see about further changes.
Croft said the HSPA still wants to learn more about putting a traffic light at the Route 77 entry to the high school. That is the group’s long-term goal, she said.
The light would initially be used only at peak traffic times of the school day, but could also be used to manage traffic entering and leaving the high school during special events at night or on weekends, Croft said.