Duane Hicks
Mind your speed and watch out for pedestrians.
That’s the message the town is trying to send to motorists travelling in the vicinity of the west-end schools with the establishment of the “community safety zone.”
Council passed a bylaw Monday night to amend By-Law 10/03 (the Traffic Control By-Law) to establish a “community safety zone” along King’s Highway, from just west of the Fort Frances Cemetery to just west of the McIrvine Road intersection, from 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. on Monday through Friday every month, except July and August.
Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft, who chairs the Operations and Facilities executive committee, said Monday the zone is meant to raise awareness of the presence of pedestrians, specifically students, crossing King’s Highway in that area.
While the speed limit remains 50 km/h within the new zone, motorists caught speeding in the zone can have their fines doubled.
First brought forward for council’s consideration in September, 2009 by OPP community services/media relations officer Cst. Anne McCoy and Elaine Fischer of the Active Transportation Committee, the “community safety zone” has been nearly two years in the making—and has gone through various forms.
One issue the committee had to decide upon was when the “community safety zone” would be in effect—all of the time (i.e., 24 hours a day, 365 days a year) or just during certain hours of the day during the school year.
Coun. Wiedenhoeft said the idea of the zone stemmed from a safety concern for students—and so decided on the latter option.
“We can always re-visit this if it doesn’t work for the summer months,” he reasoned. “We felt that right now, let’s start relatively small, see if it works, and build it around the school year, the school day, and the school kids.
“That’s the justification of [the] recommendation coming forward.”
But Coun. John Albanese noted OPP Insp. John Kendrick wrote the town indicating that a zone which always is in effect would be better, and he agrees.
If you take away the “community safety zone” designation in the summer and then bring it back again in the fall, it won’t work, Coun. Albanese warned.
Coun. Wiedenhoeft countered that the duration of the “community safety zone” can be extended if need be, and that it’s easier to establish a zone and then expand it to year-round than make it year-round and then reduce it to the school year.
“It gives greater impact when it’s not all day-long, all night-long, all year-long. . . .
“It’s more impactive if it’s certain times of the year; people are more aware of it,” he argued.
Coun. Ken Perry agreed, noting he’s travelled to many places, including Nevada and New Mexico, and noticed that safety zones are around schools and only at certain times of day.
“I have never seen a community safety zone that was 24-7 forever,” he remarked. “There’s no effect there after a while, it’s just another place where you slow down.
“A community safety zone is for children,” Coun. Perry stressed. “I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Now that the bylaw has been passed, it will be forwarded to the Ministry of Transportation for its approval. Once that is done, appropriate signage will be installed.
