Over two thousand students come to school every day to learn. Many of these students walk, drive, or take a bus to school. While their transportation to school might be different, they all have to cross the Boulevard of Eagles to get to school.

The Boulevard of Eagles is the road in front of EHS. This road experiences heavy vehicular traffic, particularly during school starting and ending times. This causes potentially hazardous conditions for students and staff crossing the road. Compounding the issue is the lack of any traffic control devices such as stop signs and traffic lights, and the resulting hazards are exacerbated in bad weather. 

During school hours, there is a crossing guard or police officer to direct traffic. However, due to the large volume and chaotic conditions, drivers are occasionally unable to stop in time, especially with traffic turning from both Glenville Road and Old Post Road. To discuss these and other conditions, The Eagles Eye caught up with School Resource Officer Detective Veronica Fields and former student and current crossing guard, Ms. Stephanie Smerecka.

“The problem is that it’s numbers; we really just have a lot of people dropping their children off. You also have students that are also driving to school,” said Fields. Overcrowding is a huge factor that plays into the congestion on the roads. 

“The traffic is ridiculous. It’s bumper to bumper and it’s just too much. It’s really chaotic,” said Smerecka.

Student Representative and STUCO President, Sarina Ahmed ‘23 said, “The traffic is unavoidable just because of the amount of people that attend our school.” For seniors who have senior parking, the congested roads can make it harder for them to get to school on time as they have to find parking in their respective lot before heading into the school building. 

Arionna Orozco ‘23 expressed concerns with students being distracted and causing delays in getting to school. “Loitering in the parking lots and on the Boulevard of the Eagles creates much more traffic than necessary and can create situations for students in which they are late for school,” she said. “Distracted driving on the Boulevard and surrounding roads by Edison High is creating dangerous situations for all the students and needs to be addressed.”

As class sizes at EHS continue to increase so will traffic issues, and a solution becomes even more critical with each passing year.