RBHS enforces changes to south parking lot entrance
A car speeds past the newly modified entrance to the RBHS south parking lot.
September 22, 2022
RBHS officials applied new changes regarding access to the south parking lot starting Sept. 14, prohibiting anyone from turning left into or out of the lot. The school implemented this shift to reduce the amount of traffic for students, buses and parent pickup. With assistance from the City of Columbia, administrators set up traffic delineators on the street in order to avoid placing a concrete barrier.
Keisha Edwards, Assistant Coordinator of the RBHS Safety and Security department, played a significant role in enforcing the parking lot changes. Edwards directs traffic before and after school, and has watched the congestion levels in the south lot increase to the point of creating a safety hazard. She decided it was time to make a change and contacted the City of Columbia Street Department. Edwards and Assistant Principal Jacob Adams decided to go with the less permanent option of using delineators to direct traffic.
“This building was built in 1973. The property is not built for 2,100 students and an additional [300 to 400 staff] members,” Edwards said. “It is definitely not built for drop off and pick up [traffic] on the south side. A lot of things have changed. Our lot has not gotten any bigger.”
Adams also helped make the change happen in order to ensure safety in the south parking lot. By reducing the amount of hold up before and after school, Adams hopes to benefit students, staff and parents by making entering and exiting the lot much easier.
“We always have concerns about how our parking lot is working efficiently,” Adams said. “Rock Bridge was built 50 years ago, and 50 years ago, there was nothing else out there, so it made sense to have all these small artery roads to get in and out. It just doesn’t make sense now.”
Junior Lexi Butts parks in the south lot regularly, and after talking to their peers, they said the only concern they have with the new change is that many students will have to find different routes to school. Butts said they believe the changes are still worth it for everyone’s safety because of the reduced traffic and risk of car accidents in the parking lot.
“I personally don’t think other students would be super frustrated with it,” Butts said. “I think eventually everyone will just come to terms with it and adjust.”
RBHS administrators and students expect the change to influence the school for the better, providing safety precautions and less waiting time in the parking lot so everyone can enter and exit the school both quickly and safely.
“We don’t want to impact student lives to where it totally affects and ruins their day,” Edwards said. “We do things here for the betterment of the school.”
Have the new parking lot changes affected you? Let us know in the comments below.
