If you remember, many Hill Street residents complained about their driveways being blocked as parents were waiting to pick up students from Auburn School each day. I felt that the concern was valid. The residents should be able to get in and out of their driveways at any time of the day without someone parked in the way. Rarely did I actually see someone blocking a driveway, but the residents had every right to complain. I would also want something done if my drive was blocked even one time. The school board's answer to the problem was to make a new entrance off of Hill Street a bit farther down so that more cars would actually be sitting within school property instead of on Hill Street. An extra strip of pavement was constructed where grass once grew. The plan looked great on paper and I actually thought that it had the potential to solve the problem.
With the new plan, new problems were born. First off, the new entrance must have been designed for motorcycles only because it is far too sharp of a turn for any normal vehicle to turn into. The angle of the turn is about 15 to 20 degrees. There are two lanes within this new strip of pavement but it is impossible for any car or truck to make the turn into the right side lane from Hill Street without stopping and backing up and trying again. I have witnessed several very close calls from people nearly backing into cars behind them without paying attention to other cars entering the turn in. Because of this an old and very serious problem comes back into play. Parents are now making a left turn into the school from Hill Street. This has been a problem in the past and a sign was erected to ensure that parents did not make a left turn into the old entrance. In the afternoon, starting at about 2:40, Hill Street is completely blocked on the College Street side because parents are parked in both lanes waiting to turn into the school. I have witnessed construction vehicles working a few houses down from the school try to get to the job site on Hill Street from College Street and have to back all the way back out and make a long detour from the west end of Hill Street via Main Street. This is a serious problem because emergency vehicles are also blocked. Every second counts in any given emergency.
If a fire truck tries to enter Hill Street at 2:45 in the afternoon, a home will likely burn down. This problem has also brought frustration between parents. I have witnessed parents turning left and cutting off someone turning right several times. A few times I have seen a quick obscene gesture being flashed towards the other parent. The car turning left does not have the right of way. The parents turning right are following the traffic rules and do not have to yield to the cars wanting to make the left turn. The cars making the illegal left turn are just zipping in with no regard to the safety of the other drivers or the children who sometimes walk in that area.
The main event that actually prompted me to do something about this situation was the near miss of a child one afternoon. A car making a left turn into school property with no regard to anyone nearly hit a child who was entering the passenger side of a sitting vehicle in the left lane of the new section of pavement. I was sitting on Hill Street about to make the legal right turn and I saw the child about to cross out so I stopped before entering school property. The car turning left did not see the child and I felt helpless watching the scene unfold in slow motion. I agree that the child probably should have waited for the parent to drive up to the normal pick up point, but in this case a simple mistake almost led to one of our children being hit by a car rushing to cut in line. We as citizens, parents and educators can not allow even one such accident to happen.
We must at least stop cars from making the left turn onto school property from Hill Street. Parents need to understand and recognize the risk and frustration that the left turn causes. I can't speak for everyone, but I do not yield to vehicles making the illegal left hand turn. I have the right of way while making the right hand turn into the parking lot. I have almost been hit on at least three occasions by people making the left turn. They get frustrated because nobody is letting them in and eventually cut in assuming that someone will stop. I can put all of the frustration aside but I can not ignore the fact that the left hand turn creates a very deadly situation for our children. I have seen that first hand. Several children walk around that area everyday.
I applaud the school board for taking the step to “be a good neighbor” to the residents of Hill Street. The board deserves credit for that. While the new plan did not solve the problem of drives being blocked, it did reduce the number of drives being blocked. The line of traffic only backs up to the first three or four driveways now on busy afternoons. Less drives are blocked, but the residents of Hill street now have a far worse problem whether they realize it or not. The entire road being blocked on the College Street side is very dangerous for the residents in case of emergency. In closing I would like the Logan County School Board to please reevaluate the situation around Auburn School. There are major problems that can't be ignored. We have to do all we can to keep our children and neighbors on Hill Street safe. Don't wait for an accident to change your minds. Act now.
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