Oxford creates dedicated lanes in effort to relieve Sisk Ave. traffic woes

Click to Enlarge

    The City of Oxford has implemented some temporary traffic changes that may alleviate some of the terrible traffic problems on Sisk Ave. associated with the opening of the new Oxford High School. Click here to see the announcement.
    Police have placed cones on Sisk to create dedicated lanes at the Highway 7 interchange. I saw the placement of the cones when I dropped Ash off for school this morning. Essentially they have created a dedicated lane for north-bound traffic coming off of Highway 7 and another lane for traffic coming east on Sisk. Sisk expands to four lanes east of the Highway 7 interchange, so this should allow a substantial improvement in traffic flow.
    I would expect there to be some initial confusion, but when it settles down this should improve traffic flow quite a bit. The dedicated lanes do require a lane-shift for those traveling east on Sisk, and this might be confusing at first. I do hope the city will install the cones and poles permanently instead of merely placing them there each morning and afternoon.
    In my opinion, the best route into the school is now to come in from the south on Highway 7. This will involve no stopping, since there is a dedicated lane. The worst way in is probably to come in from the north on Highway 7. It might be a better strategy for those living north of town to exit at Highway 30 and then take Park Drive to Sisk; this will be a matter of trial and error.
    The strategy that has worked at our house for the past couple of days is to try to be out of the driveway before 7:05 a.m. This puts us on Sisk within five minutes and at the drop-off point in 10. Believe it or not the traffic is actually heavy on Sisk at 7:10 a.m., presumably with other parents who don't want to get stuck waiting 30 minutes in traffic to drop off their kids. I hope the kids will keep getting out of the bed and into the car early!
    A friend of mine pointed out an additional problem with the traffic problems on Sisk: There is a real safety issue with two large schools having only one road leading in or out. A major accident at the Sisk and 7 interchange could prevent emergency vehicles from reaching either Della Davidson or Oxford High. An additional way into the area simply must be built.
    In the meantime, here's hoping that a dedicated lane and getting to school a little earlier provides us with some relief!