“The school’s parking situation has been a mess lately!” “I came 10 minutes early and I still had problems getting through the door on time.” “Do we need a parking sticker or not?” I’ve heard numerous complaints about the school’s messy parking system, but is there anything that can be done to fix it?

Horizon Honors’ parking problems aren’t something that can be easily solved. The fact of the matter is that Horizon Honors has two schools right next to it, Millenio Elementary and St. John Bosco, and all the parents are trying to get their kids to school at once. It can be done when really necessary, but it’s not safe or smart. I don’t understand who in city planning thought it was a good idea to put three schools that open at the same time right next to each other. It was poorly thought out, and it’s a problem that will likely never be rectified.

The school has proposed to the city the idea to implement traffic lights at 48th Street and Frye. The city surveyed the area, and said that the morning traffic wasn’t enough to justify the expenses. I believe that this is not only irresponsible of the city, but negligent. I’ve seen traffic lights at intersections that don’t have a car in sight every time I drive near them. 48th Street also provides access to Pecos Park, a very busy park that hosts multiple sporting events. Stop signs are designed for areas that rarely experience more than a few cars a minute. It’s hazardous considering hundreds of cars pass through the intersection each morning.

Overall, the parking lot situation at school makes the best of its resources. For pushing thousands of kids through the door each the morning, its handled pretty quickly. The best advice I can give is to arrive early. I live very close to school, and through trial and error, I’ve found that arriving from 7:30am to 7:40am will almost always get me inside with time to spare. The church parking lot drop off avoids the stop sign mess near the front, so I would recommend getting dropped off or parking there. The dirt strip in the front is a good place to park, but it fills up fast.