New Rules Aimed at West School Carpool Lane Traffic, Behavior Issues

STOUGHTON, MA - Parents at the West School can expect a new process aimed at eliminating some of the problems related to student pickup.

Tuesday, Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi said the school will be rerouting the end of the day carpool lane to relieve traffic and take measures to address behavioral issues associated with the line.

The update came in response to a parent who told the school committee that she heard the carpool lane would no longer be an option after Thursday and asked for a better solution to the current problem.

“I was shocked to learn that people line up as early as 1:45. By 2:30, the line is backed up to Simpson Street. This is extremely unsafe since Central Street is designed to be a two-lane road,” Stoughton resident Heidi Tucker told the committee.

According to Rizzi, traffic studies and improvements are in the work for a long term solution. Short term, traffic is going to be rerouted around the building and a police officer will be at the school as many days as needed to address the behavioral issues.

“Some of the behavior frankly of parents at the West School in the carpool lane, to put it mildly, has been egregiously horrific,” Rizzi said. “There have been people who hit other people’s cars, yelling, screaming, cutting lines, and driving on people’s lawns.”

Parents who violate the rules risk being unable to use the line.

“For now on that's what’s going to happen and people who choose not to be apart of that process will not be allowed to come and we’re going to do that before we go to parking,” Rizzi said.