NHS’s‌ ‌Traffic‌ ‌Problem‌ ‌and‌ ‌The‌ ‌Case‌ ‌for‌ ‌One-ways‌ ‌

Amid the growing coronavirus pandemic last year, stricter rules regarding student movement were put in place at NHS. Except for a few select hallways, all became one-way only, and all staircases were designated for traffic going either up or down. As with most restrictions on students, this was an unpopular decision, but a necessary precaution to enable hybrid learning. Even as the vaccine was gradually rolled out and the number of cases fell, one-way staircases remained through to the end of last year.

Finally, after a year and a half of restrictions, Needham High is (mostly) back to normal. While overwhelmingly a good thing, this return to normalcy has brought back one unforgettable issue: congestion. For those of us here prior to COVID, the mad rush that occurs whenever a class ends is a familiar sight. Getting from class to class in under five minutes can seem a Herculean feat now that the building is at full capacity again. One of the leading causes of hallway traffic is the staircases. When everyone tries to take the same staircase at once, large crowds form that spill out into the surrounding halls and block traffic. In the stairwells themselves, any movement slows to a crawl as individuals struggle to get out through the stream of people pushing their way in. The result is a melee as people push and slide their way through in an attempt to get to class.

Like many others, I too cursed one-ways when they were first implemented; I had to take an extra lap around the 200s to get to my B block. With the traffic problems arising due to the full student body being here, however, it may be worth bringing back one-way staircases. When originally instituted, their primary goal was to combat the spread of COVID through passing exposure. This was a contentious justification (see Tommy Langford’s opinion piece on one-ways here), and it’s understandable why the administration reverted back to traditional staircases as we returned this fall. With the traffic arising this fall, however, I think we can all agree that something needs to be done.

While one-ways are a drastic measure, other strategies have been employed in different areas to reduce congestion. One obvious strategy would be to reduce the number of people in the halls at one time. This was done last year, and simply involved staggering the release of certain grade-levels to half the number of people walking at a given time. This brings with it another suite of issues, however, such as how long to stagger the releases. With only five minutes between classes, splitting the time evenly into two 2.5 minute segments would not allow enough time for the second group of students to make it all the way across the school. Does this mean ten-minute passing time should be reinstated? If so, where would the time be taken from? This is not meant to be a conclusive analysis; rather, this is meant to raise questions about how NHS is managing the flow of people throughout the school. Is five minutes enough for everyone to get from class to class? Should we stagger releases after the bell? Is the congestion even bad enough to warrant outright action? Such decisions are up to the administration. With all these questions in mind, one thing is certain: staircases at Needham High are a mess.