As streets around schools begin to repopulate with students starting soon, the City of Calgary is urging drivers to slow down and watch out and be safe.
Engineering improvements and education campaigns like speed safety, distracted driving and pedestrian safety are among city-led traffic safety initiatives, according to Jacquelyn Oriold, Education Specialist with the City of Calgary.
“As we move into coming back to school, we know that there are increased volumes of pedestrian and vehicle traffic on our streets, and we are here to remind folks to be safe, slow down and watch out,” she said.
“Our kids and our students deserve to get to school safely, and they rely on us to help them stay safe.”
Permanent and temporary school safety features have begun popping up around schools city-wide, including curb extensions and rectangular, and rapid flashing beacons.
Oriold said that infrastructure changes will never be enough to keep students safe, needing safe driver, pedestrian and cyclist behaviour, as well.
“We need folks to slow down, put the phone down, and pay attention to where you are and how you’re traveling,” she said.
Curb extensions, effectively concrete narrowing the road and widening the sidewalk, encourage slower, more controlled driving near school zones, according to Surendra Mishra, a traffic engineer with the City of Calgary.
Mishra said that, ideally, permanent installations like the concrete curb extensions would be installed around every Calgary school.
The rectangular, rapid flashing beacons are very effective, according to Mishra, grabbing the attention of drivers with the push of a button. Unfortunately, these additions are costly, and the city can’t afford to install them at every school.
“We have a priority list where we go by for who will get these light-up pop-ups. We work directly with the schools as well. So based on requests and our evaluation as well, we prioritize,” he said.
Staying prepared among best safety tips
Leaving early and planning ahead are keys to back-to-school success, says Oriold.
“Think about how congested it might be at your destination, where you’re allowed to park, having those zones, being aware of bus loading zones, all of that,” she said.
“Because those kids (school students) are excited, and when they’re getting back to school, they’re not always paying attention, so they rely on us to help keep them safe.”
Around back-to-school time, pedestrians are more likely to not cross at a crosswalk, cut corners when they want to cross and cross between parked cars.
“We want to remind folks that while it might seem like this is just a quick second, a quick drop off, those can be very dangerous behaviors, and they can put kids at risk. So, we do want to remind you to cross at a corner, preferably one with a crosswalk and lights,” Oriold said.
“We want our pedestrians to be able to be seen.”
