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The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

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Lack of funds delays changes to Paly parking lot

Crucial changes to the Paly parking lot have been underway. The creation of the new carpool lanes occurred this past year and changes to the signs and structure of the lot are still under speculation.

A safety survey conducted from 2001 to 2002 suggested that changes in the Paly parking lot should be done as soon as possible. However, with all the budget cuts over the past year, the district does not have enough money to make crucial changes.

Three major changes were outlined in the survey. The changes included 1) an interim bike parking site during the construction of the science building, 2) a carpool parking area, and 3) changes to the pickup/drop-off circulation.

The bike parking and carpool spaces have already been acted upon, but there are still more changes to be done. Extending the sidewalk around the Tower Building, and changing signs are still under consideration, said Chuck Merritt, assistant principal and one of the staff members on the Paly Traffic and Safety Committee.

"I don’t think we have an unsafe parking lot, but changes to the lot could speed up traffic," said Merritt, who added that he hopes that the school district will find money to fund the major, more costly changes.

The sidewalk of the pickup and drop-off zone only extends to the Tower Building, a safety hazard underlined in the survey. More sidewalk would mean more drop-off space for parents to safely and quickly drop their children off at school, Merritt said. But this is a major change that would take longer and is more costly which will only delay the necessary work.

The most recent and least costly change was the construction of the carpool parking lane. Created to encourage students to carpool to school, the carpool spaces have been hard to patrol, making them less effective.

To park in the lot, students must buy a permit or they can buy a carpool permit that allows them to park in the first row of spaces. Trying to ticket people who park in the carpool spaces with just a permit is simple, but for those without a permit, there is no way to track them down. The police are not allowed to reveal the name of a driver when just given the license plate number. So school officials can write as many tickets as the want, but unless the culprits turn themselves in, they get off scott-free. This poses a serious problem when trying to regulate the parking lot, Merritt said.

The money from the purchase of parking permits and fines should go to the reconstruction of the lot, according to Merritt; changes would certainly be happening much faster if this were true, he said. However, the money raised goes to the student body, making up a large portion of its funds, Merritt said.

One way to drastically increase the safety is quite simple, Merritt said: "To make it safer, people need to slow down, people drive way too fast in our parking lot." Those who have been nearly been run over by students driving 40 mph, would agree. But once it turns 3 p.m., driving fast is nearly impossible. "When you are trying to get out of Paly at three o’clock, it takes, well, you know," said Merritt, who still hopes the district will find the money to make changes to the lot. "If changing the lot could make this easier, than we should do it."

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