The end-of-day bell rings. Students flood outside, hop in their cars, and zoom toward the exit, only to be brought to a halt by the long line of cars backed up down the temporarily two-way exit road.

Due to the construction and closure of the main school entrance, W 51st St. has been switched from a one-way road to a two-way road. Instead of splitting into two lanes, one turning right and one turning left, all cars are constrained into one lane. 

According to Senior Zoran Rodriguez, leaving school was more efficient when the road was one-way, rather than two-way, especially with the left-hand turn lane.

“Leaving school is a lot harder and takes more time,” Rodriguez said. “Getting into school is faster though.”

Rodriguez is not the only one who prefers the road being one-way. Senior Cecilia Fisk said the road has caused her and her fellow students more problems. 

“I think it should go back to the way it used to be because everyone just wants to get out of school, and that would make things a lot quicker,” said Fisk. 

The construction on Reinhardt is expected to be finished in a few weeks, according to school resource officer Gregg Schiffelbein. He agrees that the road is better off as one-way. 

“I like it like it used to be with the one-way [road] because the traffic flows better,” Schiffelbein said. 

One of the main issues caused by the road is when cars try to exit the parking lot by using the left-hand lane, unaware that cars are turning off of Mission Road. until they come face-to-face with them, according to Schiffelbein.

“The issue is, on the two-way that we have now, is when people try to turn left onto Mission Road., and they sit there and sit there, and everybody piles up,” Schiffelbein said. “If the construction had put [a right-turn only sign] up there, traffic would’ve moved a lot quicker.”