Jones’ new express lane

A possible solution

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Walking down State Street has been a more efficient way to get to the old building, according to Jones security.

In an effort to reduce the amount of congestion between the north and south buildings during passing periods and complaints about tardies issued by teachers and students, the Jones security team decided to tackle the issue making students headed to old building exit the school, walk down State Street and reenter the Jones grounds through the old building courtyard. The security team had their first test run on September 13.

With the size of Jones’ student body, trying to get from one building to another in 10 minutes has become an issue for students. Many students have expressed their frustration with the passing periods, as the flow of students crossing over to the other building becomes congested once you get close to the link between the two buildings.

“Going from the old building to the new building is really difficult,” said Blake Ormond ‘18. “One time it took me the full 10 minutes. If you go at the wrong time you are going to be late.”

The traffic jam between the two buildings is not a new problem for the school, yet it is one of upmost importance, as teachers have been complaining about students being late to class.

“It takes me about 10 minutes to walk from school to home but if I wasn’t good at moving around and pushing people, then it would probably take me the same amount of time to walk to school as it does to walk from one building to the next,” Nia Robinson ‘18 said.

Security has tried to fix the issue in the past by directing students coming from the old building to use the emergency stairs to get to the new building. Proving to do less than anticipated, the security team has decided to tackle the issue using a different approach. Using the emergency glass door in between the old and new buildings, security has been redirecting students from the new building, outside the school onto State St. The students then reenter through the courtyard in the old building to proceed to their next class.

Anthony Austins, one of the security guards at Jones who facilitated the new tactic said, “teachers were complaining about kids getting to class late.”

Austins thinks that the change in passing periods has been effective, and thinks that the method will be used throughout the year. Even though the security team is satisfied with how the new transportation method is working now, the team is aware of the changes Chicago weather might bring.

Austins said, “it might change a little bit, but we will see how the weather permits. If the weather is good then we are going to do it.”