NEW PALESTINE — In an effort to make sure parents pick up and drop off their students at the designated spot at New Palestine High School, the town has made it illegal for vehicles to park on many of the surrounding side streets.
The high school is surrounded by side streets, which parents use to sidestep the official drop-off area. Parents are accessing the side streets via U.S. 52, creating more traffic in those areas, which town and district officials have been working to limit.
The town council passed an ordinance last week making it illegal during the hours of 7-8 a.m. and 2-3 p.m. on weekdays to use the side streets as places to drop off or pick up students.
District officials have asked families to follow the car-line procedure by entering the campus from Gem Road, near the bus garage.
The new ordinance states it is illegal for vehicles to stop, stand or park at these locations:
–Either side of Huber Street, south of West Main Street
–North Central Street between West Walnut Street and West Main Street
–North School Street, south of West Walnut Street
–South School Street, south of West Main Street
–North Depot Street, south of West Walnut Street
–South Depot Street, south of West Main Street
–West Larrabee Street, between Pierson Street and South Depot Street
–East Larrabee Street, between South Depot Street and South Cedar Street
–North Oak Street, south of East Walnut Street
–South Oak Street, south of East Main Street
–South Cedar Street, south of East Main Street, on either side of the street.
Officials from the New Palestine Police Department told the council at a previous meeting there was nothing they could do to make people stop using the side streets without a parking ordinance in place. Town officials talked it over and created one.
The school’s location on U.S. 52, makes it dangerous for students who are walking or riding bicycles to school to cross the busy state highway, so officials are trying to divert traffic off U.S. 52 during peak hours. The ordinance, if followed and enforced, will help achieve that, officials said.
District officials posted the new ordinance on their social media feeds, prompting some to show displeasure. One person wrote, “These are public streets, paid for by all of our taxes, and they are not part of school property. When you have parents finding a legal way around your ridiculous and arbitrary dismissal procedures, maybe you should find ways to make the dismissal easier instead of running and crying to the town to pass an ordinance.”
Another person wrote, “the dismissal would be a lot easier if more kids rode the bus.”
Town manager Jim Robinson thinks it’s best for students who can’t drive themselves to school to ride the bus or make sure parents use the proper drop-off point.
“But I can see why we need to make things as safe as possible and keep traffic limited during start and release times for those kids who do walk,” he said.
Council member Angie Fahrnow said town officials are simply trying to get parents to follow the district’s proper drop-off procedures and keep as much traffic off U.S. 52 as possible.
“We want to be able to say we’ve done all we can to keep traffic away and protect students who walk,” she said.
State officials decided to designate U.S. 52 near the school as a school zone as soon as possible, the Daily Reporter reported on Aug. 31. The school zone will come with better signage and a lower speed limit, but no new signs have been posted yet.
New Palestine officials said they’ve ordered their no-parking signs for the streets listed in the ordinance and hope to install them soon.
