By Hope Zitting | [email protected]

South Valley - There are many different issues that result from vehicular congestion and unfavorable traffic patterns surrounding Herriman High School. One of these includes speeding in residential areas, as the traffic congestion caused by the school establishes speeding in the surrounding area because commuters are attempting to make up for lost time.

Other complications that may sprout from continual congestion and adverse traffic patterns include general reckless driving, speeding and traffic violations. 

During the Herriman City Council meeting that took place on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Herriman City Council Building located at 13011 South Pioneer Street, concerns about traffic patterns and congestion surrounding Herriman High School were voiced.

Following the meeting call to order and the approval of prior minutes, the public comment portion of the meeting opened up to the audience members in attendance. 

Audience members may bring any item to the mayor and the city council’s attention during the public comment portion of city council meetings, but comments must be limited to two to three minutes, as the state law prohibits the city council from acting on items that are not published on the set agenda.

This is when William Jackson, a resident of Herriman City, voiced his concern about the traffic problems.

“I have concerns about traffic patterns over by the high school when taking a child to school. There’s people cutting off and whipping U-turns. [I’m] just wondering if the council has heard that or maybe have some plans to do something about that situation. And the other thing I worry about is enforcement at red lights. I still see a lot of people running red lights and I’m worried maybe my kid or … me at the intersection when that happens. So, just concerns about that,” Jackson said. 

“That is an epidemic problem,” Mayor Carmen Freeman said immediately after Jackson closed his comments and sat down. 

Jackson is not alone in his concerns about traffic patterns around Herriman High School. 

“It’s horrible and awful and you have to park forever away because high school drivers suck. It can be terrifying because half the time no one knows what they are doing. I’ve heard about a lot of close-to-accident incidents,” resident Aubrey Jenkins said. 

“They have a lot of construction going on at the intersection. It’s been going on for about a week or two at least — maybe even longer. There’s a lot of traffic on the road everyone parks on next to the school,” Jenkins said. 

Soon after the concerns were voiced, Mayor Freeman and the city council directed Jackson to consult with the city engineer, Blake Thomas, about the traffic patterns in more detail.