Aarushi Singh ‘20
“America can never be great again as long as we have traffic circles,” says Upper School English teacher John Dilworth. “They’re a European creation, and they should stay in Europe because people in America don’t know how to drive in them.” Dilworth’s outlook on traffic circles has been influenced by his experience with the roundabout connecting Newtown Road with St. David’s Road, a part of many Episcopal students’ morning routines. Since its construction, it has gained a reputation of being a major time drain for students trying to arrive on time in the morning because of the morning-rush hour traffic jams it facilitates.
“It can get kind of annoying how often you have to spend time in line,” says Kevin Sporici ‘20. “It is really unpredictable because it depends on the time of day. If you go early enough, there’s almost nothing. But then a couple of minutes later, it completely fills up, and you can wait like five to ten minutes just to get through.” The morning congestion has caused many students to significantly alter their morning routines. Erin Boyle ‘20 says, “It motivates me to get up earlier so I don’t have to deal with the traffic…I get to school twenty minutes earlier so I don’t have to deal with the traffic.” Grace Smith ‘19 has also had to make major changes to her route. “I worked very hard with Google Maps to conduct a way to get to school without going through the traffic circle. I instead make a left on 252 because I live seven minutes away, and it takes me about thirty minutes to get to school.”
The roundabout was originally funded by Episcopal Academy as a way to smooth traffic flow out of the school’s East entrance and provide direct access to Route 252. The circle opened on December 3, 2007, about a year before the switch to the Newtown Square campus. Former Head of School Hamilton Clark seemed optimistic about the circle, describing the circle as a way to “promote safety in our community.” According to a 2018 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation study, which included the St. David’s Rd. roundabout as well as ten other traffic circles across the state, car crashes of all severities have decreased since the circles’ implementations, with a forty-seven percent decrease in total collisions.
Nevertheless, the circle’s heavy congestion has sparked discontent among students and faculty. At the heart of the circle’s congestion problem is the fact that many drivers do not understand the rules of how traffic circles work. Upper School English teacher Rachael Nichols says, “Traffic circles work beautifully when people know the rules of how to use a traffic circle. People don’t know the basic rules of traffic circles, which is that once you are in the circle, you do not stop until you have exited the circle.” Drivers often stop in the circle to let in others waiting on the sides, causing an unnecessary delay that builds up the more drivers continue to do it. “When people stop, they’re trying to be nice. But what they’re not not realizing is that behind them, everyone is on their brakes now, and we’re backing up traffic because they want to let one person in at a time.” Nichols describes the roundabout like a stream of water spinning a wheel: “If water particles stopped to let other particles in, it would not move smoothly.”
Many members of the EA community frustrated with the morning traffic have proposed solutions. “I think a traffic light would work a bit better,” says Sporici. “I feel that we’d be able to direct flow a little more cleanly and predictably.” Boyle agrees, saying, “I really think it would be better if there was just a traffic light like a regular intersection.” Sporici proposes another solution: “Maybe another entrance to the school could be another way to fix it.”
To many, informing the drivers of the EA community seems to be the easiest way to fix the traffic jams. “I think that we need to have more education of the parents and bus drivers,” says Nichols. “They may need to have people out there in the circle, like holding up signs telling people how to do it.” As for now, the congestion of the St. David’s Road roundabout remains a frustrating part of the morning commutes of many EA parents and students. “People have good intentions of waving people in,” says Dilworth, “but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”