Courtesy Of Santa Rosa Academy

A photo taken from the front of the school, showing the drop-off line. The system implemented makes half of this already small line unusable.

Drop-off — a constant problem for SRA and schools around the country that causes large amounts of frustration and wasted time during rush hours. With the increase of new homes surrounding the school increasing exponentially, the traffic in front of SRA has continued to increase over the course of a few years, affecting students, parents, and just about anyone trying to pass through La Piedra Rd. While an attempt was made to try and relieve some of this traffic, it instead only worsened the traffic, causing more frustration and longer wait times in the morning.

The pickup and drop-off line has been a part of the campus that has remained mostly the same throughout since the campus was initially built. While the design was able to suffice for its time, significant changes have been made to the city since that time. Infrastructure has been built throughout the city, specifically surrounding the school, that has been causing large amounts of traffic during the morning.

The school’s attempt to relieve traffic was to prevent anyone to be picked up or dropped off for the first half of the drop-off line. This has caused more congestion during the rush hours, as it prevented people from using half off the drop off line.

“I’m constantly getting to class late because the school staff won’t let me hop out of my car where the ropes are,” Junior Jonathan Copeland stated.

With an increased amount of traffic congestion and students being held in the morning, another concern is students who drive themselves.The increased congestion at the drop off line combines with all the held up traffic waiting to enter the line.

There is a great amount of traffic that comes from the intersecting streets, La Piedra Rd. and Sherman Rd. This incoming traffic combined with the existing traffic in the drop off line creates a dangerous situation for anyone trying to enter the parking lot — there is not only traffic merging into the line from two separate directions, but there is traffic from the intersection passing through the merging traffic. The new policy has shown to be a flop, as it causes more traffic and raises the possibility of accidents.

“The system is not well put together, and takes a great amount of time in the morning. As time goes, this system is not enough to work for the size of the school” a parent stated.