With close to 100 classes letting out for lunch at 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, students who need to leave campus are in for a bit of a wait.

The traffic jams are due in no small part to the design of the campus roads, said Keith Bourque, safety and security coordinator.

“Both the in and outbound roads are two-lane, one-way roads. When the outbound traffic on the circle road comes in and tries to merge, it has to cross four lanes of traffic on one side,” Bourque said.

He also said, due to heavy traffic, officers are being stationed at major congestion points to keep traffic moving during peak use times.

Bourque said there is a way students can avoid the rush.

“If you’re parked on the west side, lots D, E, or F, there’s a back drive on the south side of the campus, that goes out behind the old daycare center and the new John Massey construction that hardly anyone uses,” he said.

As to parking, Learning Support Specialist Mary Turner admits the usual difficulties still apply, perhaps even more so during the rush times.

“Students and faculty have to budget their time and get here a little early for the good parking,” Turner said.

“But if you have to park far away, try to just think of it as daily exercise, and remember to come a little earlier the next time.”

To contact Jeremy Cloud,

email editor@occc.edu