One public works employee said the traffic appeared to him to be about as bad as last year’s first day of school.
Mailings were sent and local news media reported the plan, but it appeared many were still caught unaware of the traffic revisions and expected traffic delays around Ferndale High School as school began this morning without the benefit of Washington Street being open.
The signs were up indicating the traffic revisions by 7am (if not earlier). Traffic began backing up on Vista on both sides of the roundabout around 7:25am. By 7:40am the traffic jam extended up Vista Drive to Thornton Street and back down the detour route to 2nd Avenue across the railroad tracks in Griffintown. Those who did not move over to Vista Drive sooner, found themselves sitting on Seamount Drive and backed up on Malloy Avenue.
But by 7:50am, nearly all the traffic backups had dissipated. By 8am, traffic on Vista Drive had returned to its normal volume.
Click for more information
Click for more informationOne city staffer who was helping with this morning’s first run said he was happy to see people being patient and not acting rashly. “I expected to get yelled at, a lot,” he told Discover Ferndale. “But no one did.”
No incidents related to traffic had been reported. But it is likely not every student made it to their desks by the 7:40am bell.
Traffic around the Ferndale elementary and middle schools were not expected to be impacted as much.
The potential remains for similar backups when FHS students are dismissed this afternoon around 2:15pm.
Photo gallery of this morning’s traffic around Ferndale High School
