Parking problems impact McLean
Student parking situation creates challenges during the first week of school
Rush Hour–Students try to drive home in the gridlock that has infiltrated this two-way street. Cars in the new parking spaces are blocked by the long line of vehicles behind them.
September 5, 2019
McLean’s growing population has warranted new parking spots for the 2019-2020 school year. The new parking area is located by the Westmoreland Street entrance to the left of the school. To create more room, existing parallel parking spaces were converted to perpendicular spaces.
This action to meet students’ parking needs, though, has received backlash from MHS drivers.
“I don’t think the spaces are convenient because they block off a lot of the traffic coming in and out of the school,” senior Trista Keder said. “All my friends say they always think a car accident is going to happen there.”
Whether the extra congestion is worth it remains a question, as some feel the parking spaces have not helped.
“Adding ten more spots isn’t gonna really fix the overcrowding issue,” Keder said.
Instead, she recommended expanding the gravel parking lot to allow for more cars. Unfortunately, this was not an option for McLean. As you may have noticed the gravel lot no longer exists and was replaced by two trailers to accommodate for this year’s large student body.
Drivers faced additional obstacles at the start of the year receiving parking passes. Passes were oversold, and students were guaranteed parking spots that did not exist.
“I know people who went [to get passes] a week or two into the school year, and they were denied parking spaces because they gave too many away,” Keder said.
Had Keder’s friends acted quickly on McLean’s parking spot announcements, they may have prevented their trouble.
“For me, [getting my parking pass] was easy because I went at the beginning of the school year,” Keder said. “I feel like it was advertised pretty well that they were giving them out.”
As of now, no more parking passes are available. If you still want to drive, you can park on McLean’s surrounding side streets. Beware of areas where you can be ticketed.
Regardless of the updated parking situation, students still feel that there is much improvement to be done.
“It has gotten worse,” Keder said. “I used to come at 7:35am, and I could park in the parallels easily. Now I can’t do that anymore.”