ASHEVILLE – Today’s burning question is about pickup lines ― the ones at city and county schools, not the ones you’d use at a local brewery ― and what happens if cars waiting to pick up kids from school are blocking oncoming traffic. Got a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Executive Editor Karen Chávez at [email protected] and your question could appear in an upcoming column.
Question: We had a summer reprieve but now that school is back in session, there are always cars backed up on Johnston School Road between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. by the elementary school, in both directions, leaving no way for locals, or emergency vehicles, to get through. Is it legal for cars to block oncoming traffic while waiting to pick up a student? Will those drivers get tickets? How are the city and county schools helping mitigate the back up during after school pickup? In a separate, similar question, a reader asked about pickup lines by Asheville High School
Answer: There’s nothing worse than traffic. If you’ve ever gone to pick up your child from school, you know the ongoing struggles of trying to time it out just right, so you get there before the cars start to line up for what can seem like miles. The Citizen Times reached out to local law enforcement as well as city and county schools to see what they are doing to help parents pick up their children quickly and safely.
The short answer: Yes, you can get a ticket for blocking traffic.
It’s not all hopeless. Asheville Police Department spokesperson Samantha Booth explained what falls under “citation” territory and what doesn’t.
“As long as the vehicles are turning and not blocking oncoming traffic then there would be no violation. However, if a vehicle blocks oncoming traffic in the opposite lane, then they could be issued a citation for obstructing traffic,” Booth told the Citizen Times in an email.
Asheville City Schools works with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and local officials to ensure traffic flow is as smooth as possible, ACS spokesperson Dillon Huffman said.
“For example, at our high school campus, we have staff directing traffic on Victoria Road, and three other adults in the car line. We have two lanes once parents pull on campus,” Asheville High Assistant Principal Holly Sutter told the Citizen Times by email.
“The high school dismisses at 3:30 p.m. so we encourage parents not to line up too early.”
Answer Woman: Why are Asheville High class times so long? Same in Buncombe County schools?
What’s the law?
Johnston Elementary is in the county. Buncombe County Schools spokesperson Stacia Harris said that all schools will see a rise in surrounding traffic during drop off and pickup times.
“We appreciate the patience of our neighbors and community as we work to safely and smoothly work through these processes,” Harris told the Citizen Times.
During pickup the schools will call the students’ names when a parent or guardian arrives, to help the flow of traffic. Teachers help open doors and monitor the situation to balance safety and efficiency, she said.
What happens if an emergency vehicle is trying to get by on these streets where the traffic is backed up?
North Carolina’s “Move Over” law mandates “drivers to slow down and approach with caution when there is an emergency vehicle with flashing lights by the side of the road.” The law also requires motorists to move into the adjacent lane if it is safe to do so. Drivers who violate the law face a $500 mandatory fine plus court costs.
“The driver of every other vehicle shall immediately drive the same to a position as near as possible and parallel to the right-hand edge or curb, clear of any intersection of streets or highways, and shall stop and remain in such position unless otherwise directed by a law enforcement until the emergency vehicle leaves.”
Christina Esmay, a spokesperson for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office told the Citizen Times in an email that BCSO has not written any traffic citations on the Johnston Elementary School property.
Tips and tricks
The gates at Asheville High School, which has entrances on McDowell Street and Victoria Road, open at 7:45 a.m. To avoid rush hour in the morning parents can drop their students off anytime between 7:45 a.m. and school start time at 8:30 a.m. This helps spread out the traffic in the morning, staggering the times students can be dropped off.
“We have added an additional person to support the flow of traffic on Victoria in the mornings and most afternoons,” Sutter said.
More: Could Asheville City, Buncombe County schools be merging? Study mandated by NC legislature
Sutter recommends that parents pull all the way down the car line in the morning when dropping off or picking up so the school can move cars through the campus faster, pick up is usually over by 3:50 p.m.
The traffic lights on the corner of Livingston and Victoria Road and the light at the corner of Hospital Drive and Victoria Road are not in sync — meaning one is red while the other is green. The lights are less than 50 yards from one another. Sutter said if they aren’t synced it slows the traffic down around this area even more.
The school is also working with the City of Asheville to get the school zone light coming from Mission Hospital working to help with traffic speed, Sutter said.
A tip for parents at county schools is when a student who still requires a safety seat is being picked up, the parent should move to the “pullover area” so they can secure the car seat and the line can keep moving, Harris said.
“If traffic backs up significantly and regularly on the main roads, the Auxiliary Team at central services can come out and assess the traffic and campus for the possibility of new queue lines if the property allows. This would take some time to assess, plan, and construct,” Harris said.
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McKenna Leavens is the education reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at mleavens@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter @LeavensMcKennna. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.