Thomas Tardif: Elm Street School traffic logjam a frustrating safety hazard

To The Daily Sun,

Laconia’s schools appears to have started without a hitch. However, not so, because all but the Elm Street School has a separate entrance and exit with a sufficient, clear holding lane for the influx of the deliveries of children. However, the Elm Street School’s driveway has one combined exit and entrance with a crossing guard to supervise walking children and protect from the entering or exiting vehicles or distracted drivers. In addition, the crossing guard also controls vehicles from entering the driveways from Elm Street due to a lack of sufficient holding lane, resulting in vehicles originating from Lakeport or Meredith Center Road or Parade Road perpetuating congestion from both directions.

A simple fix proffered a few years back suggested that the green space and trees could be removed and used as a holding lane. The entrance would be created in the school bus driveway exiting section. In doing so, it would alleviate the hazard of parking in the road from the country club amber light, causing the dangerous situation that now exists, such as the one-way street.

It’s also being suggested that the 2 p.m., 50-minute school release student pickup entrance coincide with the employees shift release in as was the case that resulted in do not enter on Pleasant Street from North Main Street, so to curb traffic the industrial park employees were released at the same 2 p.m. shift change.

Thomas Tardif

Laconia