The Noise Surrounding the Sidewalk Construction
If you are a Hills West student, have sat in the school’s cafeteria, run on the school’s track, or even driven past the building, then you have probably noticed the construction going on in front of the school. But noticing it’s happening, and being affected by it are two completely different things.
Where there would usually be two ways to enter and leave the student parking lot, there is now only one. This change has put stress on many of the students and parents trying to get to and from the school. “I live less than a mile from the school, and the traffic makes it take over twenty minutes to get there! It’s ridiculous,” stated Moise Lacrete, but he is not the only student who feels this way.
When discussing being picked up after classes have ended, Shira Zornberg explained, “You have to wait on this huge line, and everyone wants to get out before the buses do, because once the buses start leaving, then you have to wait and you won’t get out until around 2:40. School ends at 2:00, so it just makes everything more difficult.”
The question is not whether or not the construction is an inconvenience though, because it is obvious to those being driven to and from school that it is. The question is whether or not the inconvenience is worth it. If you were to ask Moise, he would tell you that it is a waste of time, but if you were to ask Shira, she would completely disagree. “A lot of students walk to and from school, so having a sidewalk will make things so much easier for them. I definitely believe that anything promoting student safety is worth a little bit of inconvenience,” she stated.
It seemed that the only way to understand the real extent of the beneficial effects though, was to talk to someone who does walk to school. Ilana Bromberg commented that while she is not affected by the traffic caused, she believes that the addition of sidewalks is a good idea and will be well worth it. She may not be sure of how useful they will be, but she greets their completion with enthusiasm.
There are pros and cons to every change, whether it be the building of a sidewalk to one’s high school or another undertaking. Each person is affected differently and some people are not affected at all. No one can possibly anticipate whether or not the construction will truly be worth the stress in the long run, but for right now, it seems to be a well-intended and mostly welcome change. It may be causing quite a bit of chaos at the beginning and ending of each school day, but it is quite possible that the current disdain for the work will fade into a quiet appreciation once everything is said and done. After all, “anything promoting safety is worth a little bit of inconvenience,” right?
