Traffic troubles slow start to school year at new Cyprus High in Magna

MAGNA — The brand new Cyprus High School opened its doors this week, but getting students to class has proven to be a challenge. Road construction and limited access points have created a traffic bottleneck, frustrating parents, students and city officials alike.

While the school is open, the only two routes leading in are under construction.

David Brickey, with the city of Magna, said the traffic issues are a symptom of rapid growth in the area.

"This falls into the fact that Utah and Magna are growing fast," Brickey said. "There's this cross-pollination of people coming and going, that makes it a real challenge."

The school, which serves 2,700 students, is surrounded by townhomes, apartments and homes that house another 1,200 residents. The influx of traffic on the first day of school created gridlock that lasted for hours.

Becca Taylor, a local parent, left her home at 6:45 a.m. to drive her children to school.

"It took me probably about 40 minutes," she said. "GPS says it's only a 4-minute drive."

Taylor believes the delays could have been avoided.

"Poor planning. They should have done it sooner, I think, because it's all like, last minute," she said.

Brickey acknowledged the complexity of the situation.

"At the end of the street, 8400 West — that's UDOT. At 4100 — that's West Valley City. In between is Magna," he explained. "And then there's the homeowner association along this road, as well as other entities."

Despite the frustration, Brickey said pointing fingers won't solve the problem.

"The reality is, it would be easy to throw people under the bus," he said. "But it's not going to be solving problems if I did."

He hopes traffic will improve within a week, once all roads are open. In the meantime, he encouraged residents to share feedback with the city.

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