By Ngoc Vo

The traffic in school zones has seen a better flow as the first semester of the 2014-2015 school year comes to a close.

According to Lt. Bryan Weed, the overall traffic in school areas has improved with much less back up from parents picking up their students.

“We haven’t had any issue after the first month of school,” Weed said. “The first month is usually how long it takes for people to get back to the swing of school.”

There are between five to seven officers working traffic depending on the time of the day in all school areas of Troy, including Pike Liberal Arts School, Weed said.

“There is nothing more the Police Department can do than what has been done in regards to school traffic,” he said.

Charles Henderson Middle School principal, Aaron Brown said in the beginning of the school year, he received some concerns about traffic coming in to the rear of the school and coming out from the front.

“The traffic is much better than it was,” Brown said. “Parents have become accustomed to the traffic route, making picking up and dropping off much faster.”

Brown said there was going to be a bit traffic at any school, especially with parents coming for pick-up early and waiting for students to get out.

“The only improvement for traffic to be more efficient is to have the children’s names on a piece of paper or cardboard in front of the car, so we can call out their names,” Brown said.

Troy Elementary School principal Teresa Sims agreed having the name signs on the cars is helpful.

“(The traffic) is much better,” Sims said. “We appreciate the officers helping with the speed of traffic … They make it so that people don’t have to wait in line as long.”

Sims said there would always have people waiting in school traffic with so many students to be transported. However, the parents and the police department have made traffic much smoother.

Weed advised people who do not have to enter school zones during pick-up and drop-off time to avoid those areas for better traffic flow. “We just appreciate the public’s patience and their help moving the traffic, being mindful of everything,” he said.

According to Weed, traffic routes for school zones will remain the same for the upcoming spring semester.