The school recently moved to a new building, but the 100 parking spots at LTA are reserved exclusively for staff, leaving students with no alternative than park on a patch of grass along the N14.
As early as 7am, pupils can be seen walking along the N14 to reach the LTA, a dangerous route, especially in darker winter months.
Willy, a student from Knaphoscheid, is currently unable to make use of public transport for his commute as there are no trains operating on the line 10: “I come by car because that takes me one hour compared to the three to three and a half hours I need by public transport. I come by car to save time that I need to complete homework and other tasks.”
Elisabeth, another pupil, hopes that parking spots will also be made available for students: “I am originally from Consdorf, travelling by bus just takes too much time. It is not that far, but it still takes one and a half hours, which I don’t fancy.”
Much to the dismay of local farmers, students also park along a field path near the school. LTA principle Tom Delles acknowledges that the situation is less than ideal, but since pupils are not stationing their cars on the school grounds, there is not much that can be done.
The police also lack the necessary officers to regularly check the site. Principle Delles believes that a Park&Ride in Vallée de l’Ernz might solve the problem. However, none of the politicians able to take such a decision are willing to move in that direction since it is believed that no school should have a car park for pupils.
Principle Delles hopes that he can still negotiate a solution with local Mayor André Kirschten. In his view, the P&R would work well since the bus line 250 passes every half hour. Furthermore, he believes the solution to be much safer, a view also shared by the affected students forced to walk along the road every morning.
Since a solution is still out of sight, motorists are advised to drive carefully when passing the school in the early morning and in the afternoon.
