The long lines of traffic in the morning are impacting our everyday lives.

Sitting in line waiting to be dropped off at school for more than 20 minutes everyday is getting old for many students, teachers and parents.

Many students are late to school on a daily basis because of the ongoing traffic the car rider line causes. On the first day many students showed up to class late.  Not only is the morning traffic bad, but so is the afternoon traffic. “Getting home from school when you only live five minutes away, shouldn’t take over 20 minutes.”

¨On the first day of school I left my house early at 6:35, I was a car rider and I had to go all the way around the backside of Mount Washington just to get there at 7:20,” sophomore Cayden Scott says. It should not take this long to get to school when you only live a few minutes away.

Many students can relate to Scott. Many have said they’ve been late to school multiple times because of the morning traffic. Not only is the traffic affecting attendance but it is also affecting moods in the morning.

The traffic affects how many students’ days go as well. “The morning and afternoon traffic does affect my day because in the morning it’s really hot and humid when we sit in line in the school parking lot for so long, it makes my mood change overall and changes how I act and feel in the mornings. I also feel very rushed most of the time,” sophomore Ashley Love says.

Students’ moods are important, because ¨students work better when they’re in a good mood,¨ so not only is the traffic affecting how students get to school, but it’s also affecting them mentally and academically. 

¨I think the traffic affects our community by making everyone more impatient, I also think it affects everyone’s schedules. This traffic can cause people to be late to work, appointments, and more,¨ Love said.

As you can tell, traffic causes many different problems, and affects many different people. But there is a way it can be fixed.

¨There’s something we can do but cannot necessarily be done with the circumstances. We really need more lanes down Highway 44 to make traffic better but we can’t do this,¨ parent Carey Combs said.

¨I think we need to do something about the actual times we have to get here. We have no control over the traffic and should not be counted tardy for that. Teachers need to be a lot more understanding about this and have new ways to let people get in before they are ¨tardy¨ even if they left their house 40 minutes ago,¨ Scott said.

The morning and afternoon traffic is an ongoing issue for students, staff and the community, and they are calling for a change.