A Charlottetown city councillor says he was surprised to learn that many capital city schools do not have clearly defined school zones.
Rob Lantz, the councillor for Ward 3, Brighton, is on a campaign to ensure proper school zones are in place around every school in the city. He also wants to stiffen fines for those who speed in these new zones by doubling - or even tripling - the fines for those who are caught speeding near schools.
Lantz says the city puts school zone signs up whenever people complain. But he said it's time for a clearly defined policy to ensure every school has a designated school zone, proper signage and appropriate deterrents.
"It appears to me we post school zone signs within proximity of schools but not from every direction and not really from any consistent distance from the school," he said in an interview from outside Queen Charlotte, one of the schools in his ward.
"There are so many (signs) around town sometimes I'm not sure if people notice them anymore."
Lantz's idea is being overwhelmingly endorsed by the Eastern School District.
Sandy MacDonald, superintendent of the Eastern School District, described Lantz's suggestion as a "great idea."
"We not only have that problem with our school zones, we also have that problem with our buses," he said.
"We still have people who are going through the bus stop lights. The school zones, I think Rob Lantz is exactly right, lots of people don't know where the school zone begins and ends."
Prince Street school is of particular concern, he said.
Lantz said he would like to model after Calgary.
During a recent visit, Lantz noticed that school zones in Calgary are clearly marked both with road signs and with 3D lettering across the pavement.
"You couldn't miss it," he said.
The Charlottetown city councillor hopes to work with both the public works and police committees to develop criteria and get the changes made.
There will then have to be an aggressive public awareness campaign in the newspaper, he
said.
Lantz has two children himself, ages two and five. He said he worries about their safety and the safety of other city children.
During the municipal election campaign last fall, Lantz said a student was struck by a vehicle on Queen Street during the lunch hour and was seriously injured.
He said he never forgot about that accident.
"That's why we need an initiative like this."
City councillor's campaign for clearly defined school zones winning support
Rob Lantz, a Charlottetown city councillor for Ward 3, Brighton, says hed like to see more clearly defined zones around city schools and higher fines, almost three times what they are now, to control speeding. Guardian photo by Wayne Thibodeau
Rob Lantz says he wants clear policy to ensure every school has designated school zone, proper signage and stiffer fines for speeders, all of which are endorsed by Eastern School District
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Comments
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- Way to go
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:34:52
Well said, Mark. City Hall needs a major overhall, from top to bottom. Way too much money being wasted on foolish things.
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- satisfied
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:25:37
Finally, a city council making productive use of their time on something that matters. Not crying about swearing at a concert. Not trying to run tourism events out of the city. Not playing favorites on the hours of operation for licensed businesses. Good work, Mr. Lantz.
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- Mark
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:42:21
Keep it up Rob.
While we're at it, we need city hall reformed. I was astounded to find out that Ch'town doesn't have a City Engineer anymore - they just contract it out every time. Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to have engineers on staff who work toward consistent designs for road work, curbing, underground services, etc. ? You also need in-house IT and need to ditch the hired seasonal help. The city government is not a make-work project to tide people over to EI time each fall.
Calgary is a good example of how things should be done but closer to home, you should check out Fredericton - they are ISO 9000 certified across every city department and one of the best run municipalities on this continent. -
- Oh
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:36:02
IMO, this is the Rob that should have been Premier of PEI. He's a friend of the family, a super guy. He's the rep for my ward. Hard to believe some other ward gets Tweel.
