09/22/03
Congestion, impatience continue
at High School intersection
A report of a near-accident at the entrance to the High School during morning
rush hour has prompted the School Board to re-examine traffic congestion
and safety at the school.
Last spring, Town and School officials attempted to alleviate morning traffic
congestion by opening Jordan Way as a second entrance to the High School.
The road is normally closed to through traffic, but police agreed to open
the road for access to the High School between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m
Parents and students using the alternate entrance turn left at the circle
in front of the Pond Cove School and travel south to the High School. The
second entrance also takes students directly to areas designated for student
parking, eliminating the need for them to go through the main circle in front
of the High School.
Police Chief Neil Williams said a number of people are using the Jordan Way
access, but Forcella said it's not enough to alleviate the problem.
"We know what the solution is," said School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Forcella,
recalling suggestions made last spring to either post a police officer at
the High School, or to install a traffic signal. "What we did last year didn't
make the problem go away," Forcella said.
Forcella made his comments at the Sept. 16 School Board meeting after Marie
Prager, School Board chairman, read a letter from a parent describing a
near-accident at the High School entrance and Ocean House Road on Sept. 12.
The letter, written by Pilot Point Road resident Carmen Chatmas, told how
an impatient driver waiting in the south-bound lane of Ocean House Road pulled
into the middle of Ocean House, passed four cars of waiting traffic, cut
back into the south-bound lane and nearly hit a middle-school aged cyclist
riding north in front of the High School entrance road.
Traffic was not moving in the south-bound lane and was backed up nearly to
the Police Station, Chatmas said.
Officials agree there has been a traffic problem at the 7:30 a.m. dropoff
time, and to a lesser extent at the 2 p.m. dismissal time, for many years.
Last spring Town and School officials met to come up with low-cost measures
to alleviate the problem. The Jordan Way access was implemented at that time,
but Chief Williams said that practice will only continue until Thanksgiving
because piled snow at the end of Jordan Way will make it too hard for drivers
to see around the corner at the Pond Cove circle.
In her letter, Chatmas said she frequently sees cars using all four lanes
-- travel and breakdown -- at peak High School traffic hours. "Couple
this density of traffic along with the rushed nature of people getting to
school and work on time, as well as students biking and walking to school,
and you can see all of the ingredients for a tragedy," she said in her letter.
One of the Town Council's goals this year
is to to review roadway and pedestrian safety in the Town Center. As part
of preliminary study, engineers from Wilbur Smith Associates monitored traffic
volume and movement on Ocean House Road at both the High School entrance
road and the intersection with Shore and Scott Dyer roads from Sept. 8-11.
The results of the study are not ready yet, said Town Manager Michael McGovern,
but he said he and Town Planner Maureen O'Meara plan to meet with the engineer
Sept. 29 to review traffic counts. By that time, McGovern said, the Town
should have some indication of whether a traffic light is warranted.
McGovern added that there is no money budgeted for traffic signals.
At the School Board meeting, Chairman Prager said she plans to arrange a
meeting with Forcella, McGovern and Town Council Chairman Mary Ann Lynch
to discuss the problem.
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