Coming back-to-school traffic raises alarms
This summer has been quite the ordeal, a season I hope we’ll never see the likes of again. If we’re lucky, this will become ancient history. Elected officials and respected medical experts have expressed optimism that we might have an effective vaccine for the coronavirus by early next year. We could return to relative normalcy by Summer 2021.
But we have a ways to go until then, and the next big hurdle should arrive when school restarts in a few weeks. School districts have wrestled with sending their students back for in-person classes, keeping them home with virtual lessons or some combination of the two.
With the exception of the Allentown School District, the Lehigh Valley has split between full-time classes in person with an online option and hybrid plans where students attend in person a few days a week and learn online other days.
Both models present different challenges, but transportation will be tricky regardless. Coming up with routes to get every kid to school safely is challenging under normal circumstances. In 2020, it’s a whole new beast.
State Trooper Nathan Branosky said Thursday that principals from around the Lehigh Valley have reached out to police about their traffic concerns. After outreach in their communities, school officials believe parents are more likely to drive their kids to school than put them on a bus.
I don’t know about you, but we were animals on the school bus when I was a kid. I would be skeptical that children will social distance or keep on their masks.
But with more parents driving their kids to school, there should be more cars on the roads, Branosky said. More cars lead to more congestion, and more congestion leads to frustrated drivers who are more likely to take dumb risks.
“The key here is to have patience, slow down and leave much earlier than you would for your destination,” he said.
Aggressive driving is rarely a good idea, and especially in school zones. Young children are harder to spot from behind the wheel and may not practice the best safety habits. While there isn’t much that drivers can do if a kindergartner jumps into the street, driving at a slower speed can give them the precious instant needed to react.
If that weren’t enough, people are already in a bad frame of mind behind the wheel. Data from all sorts of sources —
PennDOT, state police, the Governor’s Highway Safety Association and GPS — shows drivers have been more aggressive on the roads during the pandemic. Mix in students walking to schools or slow-moving buses and you’re bound to get poor results.
Drivers weren’t good about following these school safety laws before the pandemic, either. Cameras on two Allentown school buses caught 205 people ignoring stop arms in just 47 days. Other districts have reported similar problems of getting drivers to respect bus laws.
That’s why police are stepping up enforcement of school zone and school bus laws, Branosky said. Officers tend to begin the school year with strict enforcement to remind drivers of their better habits, but they will go beyond past efforts this year, he said.
“We’ll still make school safety a priority and continue to patrol the schools as well,” Branosky said.
Superintendent Joseph Roy of the Bethlehem Area School District hoped the district’s hybrid model will prevent the worst traffic and eliminate some of the risks. By keeping kids home several days a week, the district should limit the number of cars on the road, and extra buses shouldn’t be needed. The Northern Lehigh School District is following a similar strategy, and Superintendent Matthew Link was hopeful that it will keep traffic manageable around district schools.
“We believe it won’t be at a volume that will affect local roads,” Link said.
Some districts have already changed their traffic patterns, but it’s been a case-by-case review with changes based on the specific layouts of individual schools and the surrounding streets. Acting Chief Jonathon Hoadley of the Slate Belt Regional Police said few changes were needed at the Wind Gap Middle School, thanks to the design of its driveway. However, the department and Pen Argyl Area School District have requested Pen Argyl officials alter traffic flow on streets around the Pen Argyl High School to deal with the expected jump in traffic.
“There’s going to be a week or two where it will be a little chaotic for parents,” Hoadley warned.
School safety tips
• Drivers must prepare to stop when a school bus begins flashing its yellow lights.
• Drivers are required to stop when a school bus flashes red lights and extends its stop arm. Motorists should leave a 10-foot gap between their vehicle and the bus. You may not proceed until the red lights stop and the arm is withdrawn.
• These rules apply on wide roads and one-way streets, too. Footage from cameras on Allentown buses indicated drivers seemed confused on this point.
• Motorists and pedestrians must obey crossing guards.
• Traffic should be heavy around schools this year, particularly in districts planning to host students five days a week. Leave early if you plan to beat the rush.
Help coming to Schantz Road
I’m concerned about Schantz Road north of Hamilton Boulevard near Hannabery HVAC. The road before a narrow bridge has a very bumpy, almost undulating surface. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was speed bumps!
To avoid the bumps, drivers often use the extreme right portion. This is very dangerous because there is not much of a shoulder. At one point the macadam is cracked and falling away, which makes for even more danger. A similar problem exists in the southbound lane on the other side of the bridge.
Structural repair is needed. Has anyone else complained about this? What do you think are the prospects for getting it repaired? — Helen Mack, Lower Macungie Township
This was a new complaint to me when I saw Helen’s email. To be honest, I almost forgot about this part of Schantz Road. It doesn’t see as much travel as the portion west of Cetronia Road. I scoped it out Tuesday with my toddler in tow — a perk of working from home in a pandemic.
The pavement north of the bridge lane was a little rough but nothing worth writing about. South of the bridge was another story. Even my daughter thought it was too bumpy, and she loves bouncing.
The pavement here is badly warped. Some drivers go to the edge of the road to avoid the problem, but I think this is actually a worse idea. The small shoulder is crumbling and it wouldn’t take too much to slip off the road. I’d advise drivers to take the bumps head-on. The recommended speed limit here is 10 mph because of the narrow bridge and very tight curve. If you’re going near that speed, you should be able to live with the bumps. If you’re going 30 mph, though, your suspension system may never forgive you.
The good news is PennDOT intends to get fix this soon. Spokesman Ron Young says the state will mill and patch this portion of the road before October. Until then, take it slow.