Traffic on campus is becoming a problem with the long car rider lines and the packed parking lots. This problem has been harder to control as the number of students on campus increases.

The principals have been trying to find solutions, but this year’s freshman class is not making it easier with 577 students. This is a very different situation from last year when half the number of kids came to school each day. Principal Steven Miller says how the bigger freshman class has been affecting traffic.

“A large freshman class, 577 kids, 50 bigger than we ever had, the freshmen are the majority of the car rider line, and some kids do not want to ride the bus, because you are required to wear a mask on the bus,” Miller said.

The freshman class has increased the amount of traffic with long car rider lines. Some students feel the traffic can’t be fixed. Junior Lonnie Nguyen says how traffic feels like a never ending issue.

“They can’t, the only way is they could build a bigger parking lot, or have different grades leave at different times” Nguyen said.

Students feel the traffic on campus is going to stay. The faculty at the high school believe it is not possible to decrease the amount of traffic as our community grows. School Resource Officer Rick Clausing says how there is no easy way to solve the traffic problem.

“Unfortunately, there’s no way to actually decrease traffic on the roadway. However, we try to implement after planning different traffic ideas to keep everyone safe. The traffic situation will continue to become bigger and bigger as we grow as a community. The best practice is to work together as a team with other entities to ensure that we use the resources that are available to us to come to a safe traffic plan,” Clausing said.

As the community grows, this affects the solutions the school can use to solve the traffic predicament. With the community continuing to grow, some will ask, will the parking lot for students need to expand?

“We are talking about it, putting the Performing Arts Center out front will add more driving/parking space, and once the Freshman Center is built the amount of traffic will be significantly less,” Miller said.

When the Freshman Center is built the amount of cars in the car rider line will decrease. With the growing community the amount of students on campus is going to increase and the Freshman Center is going to be very helpful in decreasing traffic on campus.

“The Raymore Peculiar campus has increased by population over the last five years that I have been here by nearly 3% each year. That of course increases the amount of traffic” Clausing said.

As the population on campus continues to grow, the building of the freshman center is going to help solve many of the traffic problems on campus. Traffic this year has not been the best, but it is certainly not the worst it has ever been. Miller says how the traffic was affected when School Road was closed.

“Noticeable increase from when school started two years ago, when School Road was closed for construction that had a large effect. This year is not the worst traffic we have seen,” Miller said.

This year’s traffic is certainly not the best, but the overall goal is to keep everyone safe during drop off and pick up.

“We are currently working with some other educational groups here at the RayPec school district in finding new solutions and traffic plans on campus that will keep everyone safe,” Clausing said

The administration plans for the flow of traffic on campus are constantly affected. One major reason the amount would be decreased is the building of the new freshman center.