Many students were surprised to hear that construction on the sports practice field behind the high school, also known as Field 3, was beginning this Fall. The idea for the new lot, affecting buses as well as students of HHS, is for the purpose of saving money, time and preventing traffic.

Saving money was the first and main cause of the idea.

Currently bus drivers begin their days in Ashland, because they currently do not have anywhere to keep the buses overnight in Hopkinton.

This was a prominent point in the planning of the new lot.

“Vehicles that are registered within the town of Hopkinton pay taxes to the town of Hopkinton,” director of finance and operations for Hopkinton Public Schools Susan Rothermich said. “Everyone in the town that owns a car, they’re paying a car tax to Hopkinton, so the town can then use that revenue for buses.”

Dick Winemire, a five-year Hopkinton Public Schools bus driver, also included his take on this matter.

“Hopkinton buses had no place to park up here in Hopkinton,” Winemire said. “So as a taxpayer in Hopkinton, you’re losing $50,000 a year on exercise tax…going to Ashland.”

Rothermich concluded that having the Hopkinton buses in Hopkinton instead of Ashland would thus reduce mileage of the buses and save money.

Winemire also stated, “In essence, you make $50,000 a year. It’s going to pay for that new parking lot probably in about three or four years.”

“And not only that, you’re also paying us five miles more in mileage. Because you as a taxpayer have to pay the fuel costs and you’re also paying all these [bus] drivers per hour a day”, Winemire continued.

Winemire shared that he is in favor of this plan due to the closer destination from his home, but his fellow drivers who live closer to Ashland are not as excited.

“You can’t please everybody,” he finished.

Hopkinton traffic was another major factor for the project.

“A problem they’re having now is because Hayden Rowe is so busy. The town does not want the backup,” Winemire said.

“We have thirty buses now. When I first started here, we only had about twenty.”

Cars and buses are using the same entrances and exits and remains a current issue in the school area that currently causes lots of traffic problems.

“So that was the push. We looked all around the campus where to put the buses…keeping parent traffic and kid traffic in the front and putting the buses in the back created that separation.” Rothermich said.

Rothermich also added that the front entrance will now have more leniency for kid drop off and pick up.

The project planning was very tedious, but now that the plan has passed, work can officially begin.

“They tried to get planning done early so they could do most of it this summer, but it will not be complete until next summer most likely,” Hopkinton High School resource officer Phillip Powers said.