By Matthew Zacher ’18
THE ROUNDUP
Students driving to school from the East Valley have recently encountered two traffic light additions on Camelback Road, and they should be pleased.
About midway through the first semester, the components of a new traffic light just east of 7th Street began to emerge.
Within a couple weeks or so, there was a new traffic light on Camelback, located on 8th Place.
At first, the new signal seemed like it would be only one more light students hope stay green as they make the drive down Camelback Road.
Soon enough turn arrows were implemented at 1st Street, a main port of entry for Brophy students.
While some may say any new traffic light is cumbersome, there is no question that the 8th Place light has reduced the long line of traffic before 7th Street. Let’s not forget that 7th Street is where many Xavier Students turn left in order to get to school, so the convergence of Brophy and Xavier students at one intersection, on top of adults commuting to work can be chaotic.
However, the 8th Place light has worked wonders in limiting the build up at 7th street, and has saved students a lot of time coming down Camelback.
Prior to 8th Place, a student could easily spend upwards of five minutes at the 7th Street intersection, but now that time rarely eclipses three minutes.
Once past 7th Street, students make the final stretch down Camelback. Previously, there was only a green light located at 1st Street, but now there is a green arrow and a flashing yellow arrow.
These changes were introduced toward the end of the semester last year and have reduced the amount of buildup at the 1st Street intersection.
At this intersection, the problem begins to arise at around 7:45 A.M. when students and St. Francis families coming from the West Valley are turning right on 1st Street, while students coming from the East Valley are turning left.
Because there is only one lane on 1st Street, a traffic jam forms when students turning left and students turning right begin to compete for the right-of-way.
In order to avoid the chaos, new lights or not, I recommend arriving at school before at or before 7:45.
