Duane Hicks
Motorists will be clearly reminded to mind their speed and watch out for pedestrians and cyclists starting this school year with the establishment of a “community safety zone” along King’s Highway, from just west of the Fort Frances Cemetery to just west of the McIrvine Road intersection.
With students having returned to school yesterday, the town has signs posted on that stretch of highway indicating a “community safety zone” is in-effect from 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. on Monday through Friday every month, except July and August.
Council passed a bylaw in May to amend By-Law 10/03 (the Traffic Control By-Law) to establish a “community safety zone,” with the intent being to raise awareness of the presence of pedestrians and cyclists, 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.
The zone is part of a greater traffic safety initiative to strategically promote pedestrian safety and active transportation throughout Fort Frances. Future ventures could range from school zone signs with speed reduction and amber lights to bike paths.
This initiative has been spearheaded by the Fort Frances Active Transportation Committee and Safe Communities Rainy River District, with the town’s Traffic Safety Advisory Committee and Operations and Facilities division having since become more hands on.
“What we want the message to be is, it’s the beginning of an initiative that goes towards a safe community and goes towards active transportation,” said Ontario Provincial Police Cst. Anne McCoy, who is involved with several of these groups.
“We’re slowing people down to make sure that pedestrians and bicycles are safe,” she noted. “Active transportation is an important aspect of our community, and we need people to be attentive while their using the road, to be aware of the rules of the road, and be respectful of others utilizing the road,
“When it comes to the project, it’s just one aspect of the project. The first one alone doesn’t solve the problem, but it is a component. we’ve done a lot of educational parts of the initiative so far. It’s a great start,” added Cst. McCoy.
“Personally, I’m very pleased to see the initiative take hold with the community partners, the stakeholders involved. I am pleased that the Town of Fort Frances has made a statement that says active transportation is an important part of the initiative,” she mentioned.
Cst. McCoy said that Safe Kids Canada has statistics stating that during September and October each year, the prevalence of child-related traffic injuries while they’re walking to school increases.
“We’re telling people to be aware of the school kids going back and to be aware that they’re on the roadway, the school buses are out there,” she noted.
As far as the increased fines the “community safety zone” designation allows, Cst. McCoy said the zone is another tool for police to utilize for traffic enforcement.
“The ‘community safety zone’ is one piece. A variety of community partners came together to identify the issues, and the town took the leadership in a lot of the implementation,” said Elaine Fischer of the Active Transportation Committee.
Other pieces of the plan the town has town has implemented include new traffic signs in the vicinity of the new Robert Moore School, identifying problems with sidewalks, and shaving curbs.
Fischer said the Active Transportation Committee recently received a report which costs out a pedestrian and cycling network for the town.
“That will be presented to the town, and we hope that we can continue to work with the town to see some of those infrastructure changes implemented in the next couple years,” she noted.
When asked about the status of a bike path along Fourth Street West, Fischer said the town is on board, but there are details to sort out, such as getting permission to use certain properties.
“We do have some funds. The project will cost more than that grant, so we are going to have to secure more funds to see Fourth Street become a designated biking and pedestrian route,” she noted. “It’s definitely ongoing.”
Peggy Loyie, chair of Safe Communities Rainy River District, said the “community safety zone” fits right into the safety coalition’s mandate.
“Each year, there’s a report card rating and we get rated very well and want to maintain that. We don’t want to lose that,” she noted. “But it’s up to everybody, not just organizations—it’s up to everybody in the community. They just have to buy in.”
“We live in a small enough community where more people should be biking or walking to school, and I think with changes like the community safety zone, it’s making our streets safer,” said Fischer.
“That’s one of the biggest concerns mentioned by parents is, ‘Our streets aren’t safe.’ So with this step, along with others, hopefully we will see more people active on our streets,” she added.
