District still assessing traffic at West Florence High School

By Shireese Bell
Morning News Reporter
Published: August 29, 2008

West Florence High School is located in a rapidly growing area of Florence.

With that growth comes new shopping centers, other businesses and traffic.

In the coming months, the area will see the opening of a new Wal-Mart SuperCenter and the Village at Windsor, a retail shopping center.

The Wal-Mart SuperCenter is located across the street from the school and beside the existing Sam’s Club. The Village at Windsor will be located beside the school.

Even though many in the community might think the opening of the new centers will create a major traffic problem for students and visitors of the school, Pam Quick, the school’s principal, said an increase in traffic also can be attributed to the increase in the school’s student population.

More than 1,700 students attend West Florence — 600 of whom drive to school. That number is based on the number of student parking passes sold, Quick said.
That number of students is the largest the school has ever had, she said.

Add 12 school buses and students who are dropped off by a parent or guardian, plus the other cars that travel the road, and North Beltline Drive can become hectic in a hurry.

Quick said Wal-Mart officials and road construction workers have been working with the school as work is being completed.

“They try not to be out there when our kids are coming and going,” Quick said. “Every day it improves.

“It really hasn’t been that bad,” she said. “We’ve gotten them (students) all in on time.”

To help move traffic along, Quick said, students who drive will be directed to stay in the right lane when entering the school premises, while students who are dropped off will be in the left lane as both groups proceed to the student parking lot or drop-off area.

Administrators, school staff, the school’s crossing guard and school resource officer always are on hand to help direct and monitor the traffic during the morning and at the end of the school day, Quick said. A turning lane and traffic lights have been added to the area.

Quick said the traffic issues near her school aren’t unique to West Florence High.

On any given day, other schools in the district, such as Delmae Heights Elementary or South Florence High, can run into traffic problems.

“It is a concern, not just with West Florence (High), but all the sites where we have high volume traffic,” Florence School District 1 Superintendent Larry Jackson said.

Jackson said he visits West Florence High every morning to see what the traffic has been like, but said it’s hard to make an assessment because road work still is going on.

“Our procedure has normally been to wait until after 10 days to make a true assessment,” he said. “In this particular case, we’ve been somewhat hampered because they continue to do road work in front of the school.

“The (traffic) lights have not been put on yet, so it’s difficult for us to make a true assessment until the road work is complete and the traffic lights are turned on,” he said. “Once (that) is completed, then we can make a better assessment of what is going on and what an appropriate reaction would be.”

Jackson said it would be inappropriate right now for the district to react because he hasn’t seen the full volume of traffic yet, so the traffic will continue to be monitored.
“Once we get a better feel of what the actual volume will be, then we’ll make an appropriate reaction at that time,” he said. “Our primary concern is to make sure that our students are safe, our faculty members are safe getting in and out of that campus.

“We want to make the best decision that we can,” he said. “Right now, it would be a little bit premature without seeing the real volume before making any adjustments.”