Parking Lot Madness
Over the years at Hall High School, I have noticed how terribly designed the student parking lot is. I have had my car hit twice by another vehicle while parked in a spot in the student parking lot over the past two years causing over two thousand dollars worth of damage. The first time it was a now former student who scraped the side of my car and the second time was a West Hartford Public Works box truck that took out my left taillight. The lanes are too narrow and it’s tough to maneuver; especially for larger vehicles. Traffic is a nuisance during arrival and dismissal times because there is only one way to go in and one way to go out.
Sometimes the traffic is so bad during dismissal that people end up just sitting in their parking spot for 5, maybe 10 minutes before they can get out. It gets frustrating when you arrive at school on time in the morning and end up being late because there are so many parents that are dropping their children off and are in the same line as the students who need to park. I’m sure I’m not the only one who was frustrated with the parking lot being full at times this past week.
This brings me to my design for a couple of changes that could be made to the student parking lot. I believe that there should be two entry points. One for students who need to park their cars and another for parents who are just dropping off their kids. This would eliminate a good deal of the traffic that sometimes stretches a couple blocks back. I also think the exit should be moved down to where the student entry would be because I believe it would provide easier access to getting to North Main Street and wouldn’t interfere with any of the incoming cars.
This design definitely could have some changes made to it and factoring in the cost of these changes will definitely play a factor but regardless it’s a start to something that needs work.
