Several weeks ago, the town of Marblehead enacted a pilot program that prohibits all drivers from taking a right on red when exiting the Marblehead High School Parking lot. Such a decision is well supported by the local police department that considers such a turn to be a safety concern in that drivers are often overly focused on the oncoming traffic and their ensuing timing of joining the rush, that they often fail to account for the crosswalk on Pleasant Street. To no surprise, such a disregard poses a great threat to any pedestrians whose travels depend upon said crosswalk.
Although such a decision is intended to address a potential safety concern and better protect pedestrians during school hours, the prohibition of this right on red will result in several inadvertent consequences. The most prominent of which being a drastic increase in traffic both immediately before and immediately after the school day. Considering that there is just one exit consisting of just two lanes, every vehicle that enters the parking lot must leave from the same designated exit area. As a result, every student, parent and teacher that have either parked in the lot or collected a student from the roundabout nearly simultaneously moves towards the exit of the parking lot. In simpler terms, a vast majority of the parking lots’ capacity is forced to consolidate within just two lanes which in turn creates immense traffic jams. Prior to the recent enactment of the pilot program described above, the right lane would generally move slightly faster and more consistently than the left lane as vehicles were able to exit by taking a right turn after coming to a complete stop during a red light. So when drivers are no longer able to make such a turn, the exit of the parking lot is practically a standstill, taking upwards of 25 minutes for every car to be able to exit the lot. With that being said, the current departure system within the Marblehead High School Parking lot is very inefficient and quite frankly, illogical.
So while safety most certainly comes first, I believe that there are more efficient methods and techniques that can be used to protect pedestrians of the Pleasant Street crosswalk. For instance, pedestrians may benefit from the presence of a crossing guard so that drivers are better able to see and recognize pedestrian presence in the crosswalk without necessarily having to remain still for the entirety of the red light interval. Additionally, it may be beneficial to post a sign just beneath the traffic light that brings awareness to the existence of said crosswalk.
Hopefully, it does not take all too long for the town to recognize the inadvertent consequences of prohibiting a right on red when departing Marblehead High School.