School traffic concerns aldermen

$250,000 study proposed to deal with jams

The traffic jams at many local schools when students are dropped off and picked up are coming under scrutiny, as a pair of Calgary aldermen worry the twice-daily muddle has become too dangerous.

Ald. Gord Lowe said he routinely sees children darting between vehicles, parents jaywalking, traffic backups and school parking lots not large enough for all staff vehicles.

Lowe and Ald. Jim Stevenson have a notice of motion heading to city council on Monday urging a $250,000 study of the issue and recommendations to improve the situation.

“It becomes a circular debate and we’re getting nowhere on it, and the problem’s getting worse,” Lowe said. “I just want to get it fixed before we kill a kid.”

But while the aldermen worry about the lack of lay-bys for school buses and space for parents to stop, some school and provincial officials say changing social patterns and neighbourhood design are to blame.

An increasing number of parents are insisting on driving their children to school, said John Gibson, the director of new school projects with Alberta Infrastructure.

While the 20 minutes of disarray twice a day is common, it’s rare to have a child hit by a car, he said.

“It’s typically chaotic, but it’s typically not that dangerous,” he said.

Ultimately, the city approves new school developments, considers things like traffic volumes and can require changes to the plans.

While school builders look to deal with pending traffic problems, there is only so much space to accommodate the daily, but short-lived, problem, or risk pushing into playgrounds and sport fields.

Schools often implement their own measures, such as school zone patrols, to mitigate some of the dangers the car crowding brings.

However, increased traffic does raise the safety risk to children, according to Calgary Board of Education facilities superintendent Frank Coppinger.

One of the issues, he said, is newer neighbourhoods are denser, and homes have front garages that restrict the room left for street parking.

A series of parking rules around schools reduce the stopping space even more.

Vehicles need to be a certain distance from a corner and crosswalk, they can’t park out front of the school or in bus zones, he said.

“There are very few places left for a car to park, and yet we’ve got this increasing percentage of parents dropping off their kids at school,” Coppinger said.

There is hope, however.

At St. Clare, an elementary school in Coventry Hills, the congestion became so bad two years ago the school called a community meeting to talk about the concerns, and invited police and parking officials.

Parents were triple parking along an adjacent culde-sac called Covette Bay. Neighbours complained they couldn’t get out in the morning, and worried emergency vehicle access was blocked.

But with some work, principal Giselle LeClair said things are much improved. Parking is now forbidden on the west side of the cul-de-sac.

At assemblies, students are reminded always to use the crosswalk, rather than jaywalking.

The loading zone for buses on Coventry Hills Way is shortened (there are just two buses), giving more room for parents to safely stop.

“Before we did this, we had people almost getting into fights about it,” LeClair said.

“That doesn’t happen now. People talk about it, people come to me, we talk to the parking authority ... we talk to our police.”

Still, there are some problem schools, according to Stevenson, who said his assistant is drawing up a list of trouble spots. The alderman said he’s been out with principals and teachers in the morning to watch the drop-offs.

The problem is exacerbated, he said, because parents drive their children, even if they live nearby.

“What’s happening is they’re kicking their kids out of the car in the middle of the street and having them jaywalk, all because there’s so much congestion,” Stevenson said.