The traffic signal at the Embarcadero Road entrance to the Palo Alto High School parking lot, which currently has a timing error, is scheduled to be fixed by Dec. 22, according to Sam Peiris, a traffic engineer for the City of Palo Alto.
The City of Palo Alto activated the new traffic signal, which allows cars to make left turns into the Paly parking lot and drive straight across the street to Town and Country, on Nov. 24 because it was required as part of the approval for the opening of Trader Joe’s, according to Peiris. Peiris said that the city did not receive necessary equipment for the traffic light, which resulted in the timing error.
“Prior to opening the Trader Joe’s, the city did not receive all the necessary vehicle detectors, controllers and the cabinets,” Peiris said. “To avoid severe congestion with the new store [Trader Joe’s], the staff used their spare traffic signal equipment to activate the signal.”
The current light does not include vehicle detection, and can only operate on fixed timings, which has led to delays during peak hours, according to Peiris, who said that new signal gear should arrive by Dec. 22.
“After installing the new cabinet and the controller we will be able to incorporate into the city’s existing traffic signal system in order to maintain coordination and efficient traffic flow,” Peiris said. “Furthermore, the new signal will connect with existing pedestrian signals to accommodate pedestrian activities.”
Both students and teachers have experienced difficulties with the new light.
“There used to be a big traffic jam until Castilleja and now there’s two blocks more of traffic jam,” junior Rachel Schaffer said. “It takes an extra five minutes to get to school in the morning.”
“It has changed my timing on when to get here, greatly,” math teacher Arne Lim said. “What it does is that it affects how much we can get done first period.”
Junior Vice President George Brown said that the Associated Student Body has been involved in the issue, but that ASB does not have the power to fix the light.
“I think that it’s pretty clear that people can’t get to school fast enough,” Brown said. “I think that six cars can get through at a time. I got stuck in it one day and then I changed my method of transportation. I think that the thing that we can do the most is just let them [the City of Palo Alto] know that there’s a problem and let them fix it.”
Students, including Schaffer, have expressed frustration with the lengthy process of fixing the traffic light.
“I hate that it took all this time that we couldn’t go to Town and Country because they were trying to fix the crosswalk,” Schaffer said. “And they didn’t even get it right the first time.”