If you drive on campus, you know the struggle of traffic and parking. I’ve done research on this subject and here’s what I’ve found, the average time spent sitting in traffic at the light in front of the school is 16 minutes and 48 seconds, and that’s not including the time spent trying to find a parking place. The average student sitting in that traffic wastes 1 cent a minute on gas waiting in that line. Which doesn’t sound like much, until you’re spending 32 to 50 dollars a year on gas, just sitting in line.

But when you finally get into the parking lot, there’s another issue, parking. There are 104 spots reserved for teachers, but there are only 75 teachers not including secretaries.  With these numbers, I was surprised to find that on any given morning teacher’s cars can be found parked in the student area. Students and staff need to be accountable for where they park. Working together for solutions is the only way to manage the space.

The student enrollment at Glacier Peak has grown every year.  The school opened in 2008 with an estimated 1,000 students. Today according to publicschoolreveiw.com we have grown to 1,745 students.  The parking lot is still the same size. Extra ballfields were added in the empty space on the side of the school. With the number of students growing and the number of students driving, we can only expect the traffic and parking problems to get worse. The answer may lie in the buffer area between the current parking lot and Cathcart Way. Also, there has been talk of a pedestrian bridge over to Willis Tucker Park. Either option would help relieve the congestion.