Signal at Northwood High School could ease traffic

SHA, school system are studying improvements

One proposal would make the signal functional only during morning and afternoon rush hour; another would keep the light fully functional at all hours.

A third plan would require the acquisition of a home on Caddington Avenue so another driveway could be put in its place. The school system would also make some changes to traffic patterns on the school property.

Parents are concerned about students’ safety, particularly since a fourth class will be added next school year, said parent Eric Brenner. The school, which reopened in 2004, will have more than 1,400 students.

‘‘It should have been dealt with before it opened,” Brenner said.

Traffic has been a problem at Northwood for a long time, even when it was a holding school for high schools being renovated, said John Matthews, director of Montgomery County Public Schools’ Department of Transportation, who spoke at a March 27 meeting with parents.

MCPS is also considering three options that could improve traffic flow. One would put an entrance on the side of the school near Conti Place. Another would create an entrance off Caddington Avenue.

However, Matthews said, ‘‘That’s only a proposal at this point and not a viable option.”

The third option would keep the current entrance to the school—traffic enters from University Boulevard—and would provide methods onsite to better circulate traffic, Matthews said. In that case, a full or half traffic signal could be added.

Putting a traffic signal on University Boulevard is SHA’s decision, since it is a state road.

‘‘We prefer not to put a traffic signal in at all, but we’re not ruling that out completely,” said Tom Hicks, SHA’s director of traffic and safety. A signal that completely stops traffic would be disruptive, but a half-signal could work in some situations, he said. More than 36,000 vehicles drive past the school each day.

‘‘We want to avoid congestion because that breeds unsafe conditions,” he said.

One option SHA has proposed is keeping the school’s entrance as is and putting a detector where traffic turns left onto University Boulevard from the school that would communicate with the light at Arcola Avenue to provide gaps in traffic, Hicks said. A barrier could also be placed in the median on University Boulevard to discourage pedestrians from crossing mid-block.

Another option would create a one-way lane near Caddington Avenue that enters into the school.

‘‘When you have 400 cars descending on the site during a 20-minute period in the morning, you have to have somewhere to put them,” Hicks said.

But many parents feel strongly that regardless of what structural changes are made, a traffic light is needed in front of the school.

Elizabeth Frick said her teen will be getting a driver’s license soon, and it could be hard for young drivers to navigate across three lanes of traffic to turn left into and out of the school. Having a dedicated light, she said, is important.

‘‘Without a dedicated signal...it sends the message to drivers on University Boulevard that they can zip on by Northwood High School,” she said. ‘‘I’m concerned we’re setting up a light that really isn’t, if it’s not a dedicated signal.”

Officer Scott Arnold, Northwood’s educational facilities police officer, agreed. He often directs traffic in the morning when students are arriving and said he has seen vehicles backed up to Arcola Avenue trying to get into the school. He has also seen students run across University Boulevard to the school in an attempt to catch public transportation.

‘‘My main concern is the safety of the students,” Arnold said, adding he fears a fatality.