Potholes. Ponds. Poor design.

To put it lightly, the student parking lot is a mess. Many of the seemingly trivial issues that the parking lot has have the potential to become serious safety hazards and cause traffic problems.

Firstly, all of the lanes to get to parking spots are designed to be one-way, meaning that the spots are angled and almost impossible to park in if you are going the wrong way. This wouldn’t be an issue if it wasn’t for the fact that it is impossible to access the second row of cars if you pull into the lot from the right-hand entrance.

I am one of those who parks in the second row and enters the parking lot from the right. In order for me to get to my spot, I have no choice but to cut through the parking spots to get to the second row. It’s a good thing I come to school relatively early because otherwise, I would have trouble finding a cut through.

No one, including myself, should have to cut through other people’s spots to get to theirs. The parking lot needs to be repainted in a way that students can actually access their spots. This is especially true because of safety issues that can arise due to design flaws in the parking lot. This can include minor accidents, which have happened in the parking lot before, and putting pedestrians in danger. Of course, students also need to be cautious while driving, but some accidents can be unavoidable.

Another more seemingly trivial issue with the parking lot is that it needs to be repaved and storm drains need to be added, especially in the far left corner where a small pond often forms when it rains. This is not as urgent as an issue as others, but it is still something that needs to be addressed because of the safety issues they could cause. Many drivers are afraid that the potholes can damage their tires. When people are constantly avoiding potholes and small ponds in the parking lot, it has the potential to cause accidents.

Also, the lights at the exit to the parking lot should be lengthened during directly before and directly after school. This is because with such a short light for the left turn onto Monroe Road, it can take several minutes to get out of the parking lot at peak times. Though this is more of inconvenience than a safety issue, it is still annoying for people trying to turn left at peak hours.

There is also the issue of parents dropping of their kids in the student parking lot in the morning because they don’t want to wait in the drop-off line. This creates unnecessary traffic in the student lot and parents need to be kept out.

Lastly, the gates to the parking lot need to remain open for longer in the morning to allow for students coming in late for whatever reason, whether it be for doctor’s appointments or late entry. When a student comes in late now, they have to drive the wrong way into the exit of the parking lot in order to park. This issue also arises when people need to leave early or have early release because the gates to leave the parking lot are closed until 2:15. Efforts to fix this problem have been made in the past, but the issue keeps reappearing.

Overall, the student parking lot is not as accessible as it should be. Its flaws have the potential to create serious safety hazards and traffic problems, and because of this, should be fixed.