High School Traffic

[Made in the USA]

Why did they only make one entrance for traffic at the High School? If you have to be in that area in the mornings, it is a mess! Why cannot they open up an entrance from the South also?

[Detector]

Good question. 8:00am and 3m are a pure nightmare anywhere. You know, I live 2 miles from work and pass within 1 mile of 5 schools getting to/from work. Thats ridiculous.

[Bubba]

With the budget crunch that the school district is always talking about and the price of fuel, why do they still bus in-town kids to school? Talk about throwing money away!

[Lone Gunman]

Originally Posted by Bubba

With the budget crunch that the school district is always talking about and the price of fuel, why do they still bus in-town kids to school? Talk about throwing money away!

I'm with you there Bubba. Every day three busses stop about a block from my house and let maybe 2 to 3 kids each off of the bus. Now what really chaps my ass is the fact that the parents of these kids drive to this location and wait for their kids. If they can drive to a location and wait for the bus then why in the hell can't they drive to the school and pick up their kids? Just a thought I could be wrong.

[TexKan]

During my DC life - I hated mornings on 14th. Never saw such a mess as the traffic to and around the highschool - Ya know I can get 1/2 way to Houston in 20 min - shame ya'll can't get across a 5 mile town. I also agree with the bus thing - Course you are dealing with "entitlement" issue and "entitlement" generation. Kids "deserve" cell phone, cars, designer clothes and yes rides to school. Take a look at the kids on the busses - they probably don't have cars - all those kids with cars wouldn't be caught dead on a school bus. So does a parent with only ONE car have to leave early to get a kid to school? Yep - they probably pick them up from the bus stop cause it's easier than fighting the traffic to the school. I think busing is covered by Federal law - ya'll probably don't have any say over who gets bussed and who doesn't. It's so out of our hands now days. Last I heard you have to live 3 miles from the school to ride a bus or be "special needs". I'm not sure about the miles but look at how far from housing that school is - heck everyone "deserves" a bus ride I bet. Good Luck on those morning commutes.

[Diamond]

if you don't like the amount of bussing going on in Dodge. Blame it on "controlled choice". Parents may "choose" the elementary school closest to their home, but through the "controlled" part, they may be assigned to a school on the other side of town. And if you live a certain distance from your child's school, you qualify for bussing. The "controlled" part parcels kids out according to race and sex as a way of integrating schools.

There is much discussion going on right now concerning abandoning controlled choice and going back to neighborhood schools. It makes no difference to me since my kids are out of school, but I believe the review of controlled choice is valid at this time.

As far as traffic at the high school goes, there will never be an entrance/exit from the school directly onto the by-pass because of safety concerns, so the best you can do is allow a little more time if you have to go there, and avoid it altogether if you don't!

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by Diamond

<snip> The "controlled" part parcels kids out according to race and sex as a way of integrating schools.

There is much discussion going on right now concerning abandoning controlled choice and going back to neighborhood schools. It makes no difference to me since my kids are out of school, but I believe the review of controlled choice is valid at this time.

As far as traffic at the high school goes, there will never be an entrance/exit from the school directly onto the by-pass because of safety concerns, so the best you can do is allow a little more time if you have to go there, and avoid it altogether if you don't!

There shouldn't have to be any integrating as the majority of citizens in Dodge City are now hispanic.

There CAN'T be any entrance from the school directely onto the by-pass BECAUSE Frontview Street is between the school and the by-pass. There should be a south entrance/exit from the school if for no other reason for safety!

[The Drifter]

many times ive said the same as bubba, however the answer i had received from teachers and porky corky is that it is illegal to build a road from a school to a highway. well there is a frontage road there. I have also driven by high schools that sit along a highway that have entrances that go to the highway, or a frontage road near the highway. Pratt Skyline comes to mind.

at one point in time the ex resource officer at DCHS had said that one entrance made it easier for him to control who comes in and out. let's think about this, and heaven forbid it happens. thanks to the chaos theory this could happen. lets hope not.

big car wreck on ross stops traffic flow from both directions...no room for anyone to turn around. now at the highschool there is a teacher who has a heart attack, no ambulance can come from ross, the only way in by road. this would prove to be a sticky situation. a second entrance would be handy.

i dont see the problem of having more than one entrance/exit. old high school had many options for exodus.

thats just my opinion, but people dont ask me before they do things.

[Bubba]

How about a school closer to home for another example. Southwestern Heights is right on US 54 between Plains and Kismet. They have 2 access roads going to Hiway 54 one on the East side of the school and one on the west.

But, these examples are beside the point, the south side of the High School is not on the Highway or the By-Pass, whatever you prefer to call it. The south side of the High School is next to Frontview Street by Kitchens Inc and the Aquila office/warehouse.

You would think for the safety of the students and faculty that there would be more than one entrance/exit. What if there was a fire, medical emergency, terrorist bomb? Would you want some faculty and students to be injured because they couldn't get far enough away from the building because there is only one way off the property?

Drifter points out a very good scenario that only one egress point would cause a problem.

[Flying Dutchman]

Ok, I will play Devil's Advocate again............even though I do agree that there should be a second entrance/exit.


If you put an exit from the south of the school, onto Frontage Road, you have a couple of problems. One of them is the traffic jamb that would be caused at the Frontage and 14th intersection. The other problem is having a large number of inexperienced drivers converging onto the by-pass enmass. I know I see wrecks on 14th quite often in the mornings in route to the school. Nothing like a long straight away for these lead footed kids to show off their driving knowledge.
The first time an ambulance or other emergency vehicle is unable to get into the school will be when it gets fixed.