U-turns through crosswalks, jaywalking and not giving the right-of-way to pedestrians are just a few of the things witnessed near Red Deer schools.

Brian Munro lives close to Annie L. Gaetz Elementary School and he has seen it all.

As 3 p.m. approaches each day, the alleys by his home are congested with minivans and SUVs, idling as parents wait for their children. Mitchell Avenue is lined with cars on both sides of the street. Cars are even parked on the grass field by the school.

Then when the bell rings, Munro has seen children dart between cars, and drivers speeding along the avenue not seeming to care who gets hit.

“It’s just out of control,” Munro said. “Originally our concern was traffic, dust and congestion. Now I’m concerned that there is going to be some kid getting hit.”

Annie L. Gaetz principal Karen Vanderwater said either her vice-principal or herself are always on duty supervising traffic before and after school.

Vanderwater said they have to keep an eye on things and weather can create issues for them.

She said the school tries to educate parents and children, as well as working with neighbours in regards to traffic issues. “I think overall our community is quite aware and is really trying hard to make it as best as it can be,” she said.

Annie L. Gaetz was among eight public and four Catholic schools in Red Deer that took part in a city Traffic Safety Study for Schools released in August 2008. The study found an overall lack of “road sense” by students in Red Deer. It also showed students rarely walked or biked to school, but instead were driven to class.

According to the report, completed by Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc., 33 per cent of students surveyed got a ride to class in a car, truck or van and 27 per cent took the school bus. Just 14 per cent walk to school and three per cent biked to school.

Others carpooled, were on a special needs bus or took public transit.

The issue isn’t limited to one school or one area of town.

Each morning Lenore Berkeley, vice-principal at G.H. Dawe Elementary School, stands out front to keep things under control. The principal is there every afternoon.

“It’s been extremely chaotic in the morning and even more so after school when parents are trying to pick (children) up,” Berkeley said. She said sometimes it feels like there are more cars than children.

The G.H. Dawe Community Centre is being renovated and what used to be parking is now taken over by construction. For safety reasons, the school has had to restrict access at the very front of the building — which used to be a student drop-off zone. Parents aren’t allowed to use the area any more because construction trucks are coming and going.

Berkeley said there have been incidents where people have come through the three-way stop and made U-turns through two crosswalks.

“We’ve seen some phenomenally bad driving,” she said. She has seen people park in bus zones, park beside the fire hydrant and also seen parents let children out of the car as they are stopped at the stop sign, holding everybody up behind them.

Berkeley said she would like to see a “safe zone” in front of the school, where parents could go to drop off students. It would mean students didn’t have to cross the street.

Since the report on traffic around schools was released, the city has been working with the Red Deer Public School District and the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division on three pilot schools.

The recommendations were different at each of the schools, but included things like having drop-off and pick-up zones, relocating bus zones and improving lighting.

The city has already made changes at St. Martin De Porres School, moving the bus zone from the front of the school to behind the school at 58 Ave. Vehicles are no longer allowed to stop across the street in front of the school to avoid children jaywalking and darting out between cars as they are dropped off. A zone in front of the school allows parents to drop off or pick up their children.

“It’s been a wonderful change for us,” said Patricia MacRae-Pasula, principal at St. Martin de Porres Elementary School. She said there have never been any safety issues or incidents in the past, but the front of the school used to be very congested with parents and buses. MacRae-Pasula said parents have reacted very positively to the changes.

Ken Jaeger, supervisor of support services with the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division, said they are interested in making changes that will reduce congestion, increase visibility and redirect children in a way that is safer around schools.

Rebecca Clark, a traffic engineer with the City of Red Deer, said since the changes were implemented at St. Martin de Porres at the start of this school term, they’ve seen a huge improvement, with congestion around the school reduced. She said moving the school bus zone means a lot of the students are away from the busiest traffic area.

Pilot projects are also underway at École Oriole Park Elementary School and Grandview Elementary School. At Oriole Park city staff and school administration have talked about moving the bus zone and at Grandview they’re looking at having a drop-off/pick-up zone, as well as trying to promote active transportation.

Rita Di Placido, Grandview Elementary School principal, said they’ve been encouraging carpooling, walking and biking to school. She said they have also suggested people try a “walking school bus”, with a parent walking a group of students to school together instead of driving. She knows some of the ideas won’t work until the weather becomes nicer.

She said the traffic situation is particularly challenging because they have so many programs for pre-school children at the school. At some, drop-off zones work well, but can be a challenge with younger students, Di Placido said.

Drop-off zones have been approved for the north and south sides of Grandview School, which will enable students to walk directly onto the playground or down the sidewalk and then onto the playground. Di Placido said it means they won’t have to cross parking lots, driveways or roadways.

Changes are being made at other schools during the summer so that they are ready September, said Clark. She said the city has budgeted $150,000 to make changes at the 12 schools that were studied and an additional $200,000 has been budgeted for 2009 to work on safe routes to school, making sure that there are crosswalks, proper sidewalks and possibly traffic signals for pedestrians at arterial roads.

The public school division has another $100,000 it will put towards the eight schools in the study, according to Cody McClintock, associate superintendent-business services.

“Putting in a parking lot or cutting a curb is easy. The really critical stuff is to get people to understand what is happening, why it’s happening and get them to comply with where we’re trying to go with this,” McClintock said.

“We don’t want to see children at risk at the beginning or end of the day, or any time for that matter.”

sobrien@reddeeradvocate.com

Recommendations to improve safety for pedestrians

A report released in August 2008 noted a variety of safety concerns after consultants observed traffic around schools and consulted with school staff.

Completed by Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc. for the City of Red Deer, the Traffic Safety Study for Schools offered a variety of recommendations to improve safety for pedestrians.

This summer, city workers plan to move forward with some of the recommendations, after consulting further with school divisions and school administration.

In most cases the consultants recommended offering safe routes to schools information to students and educating them on traffic safety.

The report also recommended monitoring and enforcing traffic rules around the schools.

Recommendations at the 12 schools are as follows:

Annie L. Gaetz Elementary School

• Create drop-off/pick-up lane on Mitchell Avenue, with no parking on west side;

• Make both sides of Munro Cres. a no stopping zone;

• Add a fence to front of school and side alley;

• Expand staff parking.

École Central Middle School/Gateway Christian School

• Create a drop-off/pick-up lane on south side of the parking lot for Central Middle and east side of 48 Avenue for Gateway Christian;

• Create a no stopping zone on north side of 53 Street at certain times, with an exception for residents;

• Reorganize the parking lot for Central Middle and create a sidewalk along the west side.

Eastview Middle School

• Create a drop-off/pick-up lane;

• Make a raised pedestrian crossing through the driveway;

• Increase illumination;

• Relocate bus loading zone.

Fairview Elementary School

• Make a no stopping restriction on the north side of 55 Street;

• Create a crosswalk on 55 Street at Kerry Wood Drive, and at west and north legs of 55 Street and 60 Avenue.

G.H. Dawe Elementary School/St. Patrick’s Community School

• Relocate bus loading/unloading area at St. Patrick’s Community School;

• Increase illumination;

• Make the circulatory roadway a one-way westbound, with parents entering at Holt Street;

• Create a raised crosswalk, leading south to Hamilton Drive.

Grandview Elementary School (pilot school)

• Create a drop-off/pick-up lane on south side of 46 Street;

• Make a no stopping zone on south side of 45 Street and north side of 46 Street.

École Oriole Park Elementary School (pilot school)

• Encourage use of parking lot at the back of the school;

• Create pick-up/drop-off area along west side of Oleander Drive;

• Create a no-stopping zone on south side of Oldbury Street.

St. Elizabeth Seton School

• Create a school speed zone to Addinell Avenue;

• Add sidewalk to east side of Addinell Avenue.

St. Martin de Porres Elementary School (pilot school)

• Relocate bus loading zone (completed in January);

• Expand staff parking;

• Construct drop-off zone (completed in January).

Maryview School

• Install clear bus loading area signs;

• Encourage parent pick up/drop off in back parking lot;

• Create no stopping zone on the north side of 39 Street;

• Make no parking in front of Cultural Centre, except by Cultural Centre staff;

• Change parking lot to one-way circulation.