With the recent expansions made to the school, Dougherty Valley has received a higher volume of students and parents pouring into the parking lots to get to school on time. With the new parking system established, being able to park is supposed to be easy and efficient for those students who choose to park under the solar panels. But with the high volume of vehicles, it has seemed to only create more problems rather than fixing the ones that already existed.

The plan to ease traffic in the school seems to look better on paper than in reality. Many people have been subject to waiting in line for fifteen to twenty minutes, most of whom are parents who want to ensure they safely drop their children off.

The traffic at Dougherty Valley seems to only work in favor of those wishing to park under the solar panels, but when it gets busy, problems start to occur for those wishing to park in the gym parking lot as well. Many of those people who choose to park there have noticed that it takes a very long time just to park and ultimately makes those late to class. Senior Nitin Sharma, states that he suffers one to two tardies a week due to the high volume of traffic.

When asked what he thinks is the main contributor to the traffic, he stated, “People don’t follow the rules. It seems that when they break the rules of traffic system, it creates problems.”

He believes that if people start to follow the rules, we will see the traffic lighten up and run a little smoother.

However some students believe it isn’t the school’s fault but rather the cities. Senior Jacob Shtulman believes that it is the city’s fault for not adapting to the largely growing population and needs to build appropriate streets to accommodate the traffic.

“I believe the city needs to reevaluate its current infrastructure and focus on expanding the roads,” Shtulman said. “When the city was built there were not many people living here; now it has grown in a way in which they need to think about expanding the roads to accommodate for the current population.”

Having multiple schools close together, such as Dougherty Valley, Gale Ranch, and Windermere Ranch all located in the same area, has taken its toll on those who drive to school. Some complain about the light time being too short and others say it is the high volume of people. But for people like Shtulman, who passes three different schools to get to Dougherty Valley, it is the streets that ultimately make him late for class.

For those parking under the solar panels however, students seem to have access to parking more easily than those who choose to park by the gym.  Sharma and Shtulman both agreed that it could be a lot worse if the gate by the Venture school remained closed like it was last year, and they are glad to see it opened this year, thinking that it helped slightly with the congestion of cars.

In the end, it seems that the only way to avoid the traffic is to arrive early to school, but with the population climbing, it seems it will only worsen before it improves.