by Lilah Boig ‘26

Students who usually drive to school from Town Center along route 108, know traffic in the morning is unbearable. During this time traffic can be seen backed up from Sherwood all the way to Olney Theater. This traffic jam is partially caused by the way the lights are staggered to change at unsynchronized times. This causes a phenomenon where the light you’re behind is green, but nobody can move because of the stopped traffic at the next light. Cars often get stuck in the middle of intersections from long backups, leaving them vulnerable to car accidents. This traffic can take over 15+ minutes to get through, causing students to arrive late.

Teachers and staff who arrive early may think, “why can’t students just leave earlier?” Realistically, if all students began to leave earlier, then traffic would just occur earlier, doing nothing but moving the issue around unless students somehow staggered the times they arrived. It’s also unrealistic that students can leave earlier every day as lots have other activities or unpredictable homes. If the lights were synchronized during arrival time, it would mitigate some of the traffic and help students arrive safe and on time.