Students walking to and from Kennebecasis Valley High School should now have an easier time getting there.
Town staff in Quispamsis recently installed pedestrian-operated signals at a nearby crosswalk on Hampton Road.
Coun. Mike Biggar raised concerns about the crosswalk’s safety during an October council meeting and applauded staff for their work.
“I really appreciate the effort on, of course, it’s on behalf of the kids and the safety of the kids at the school, but I’m sure there will be a lot of parents who will be very relieved to see that that’s been erected,” Biggar said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Last month, Biggar said the parking lot at nearby Kennebecasis Baptist Church is being used as an overflow pick-up and drop-off zone for students as more of them are being driven to and from school due to COVID-19.
He said the current crosswalk was not properly designed to accommodate the increase in students and was concerned the situation would become riskier as winter approaches.
Council had asked the province to help install rapid flashing beacons at the crosswalk since Hampton Road is provincially-designated and the town had used up its budget for traffic calming measures this year.
In response, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jill Green said the responsibility of crosswalks and traffic operations activities rests with the town.
“Decisions regarding these items must be consistent with DTI guidelines, sound engineering judgement, and Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) guidelines and standards,” Green wrote.
Gary Losier, the town’s director of engineering and works, said staff re-scheduled the planned installation of one trail crossing and used spare parts to create a modified set of rapid flashing beacons for the crosswalk.
Council had also asked for permission from the province to lower the speed limit near the high school like it is near Quispamsis Elementary, Harry Miller Middle and Rothesay High schools, which are also along Hampton Road.
At the time, Losier said they were told in the past that KV High was not considered for a lower speed limit as the school does not front onto Hampton Road.
“The correspondence from DTI had indicated that any specific changes such as a reduction of speed limits would require warranted traffic analysis and ultimately approval from them,” Losier wrote in a Nov. 10 staff report to council.
Staff recommended monitoring the effectiveness of the new signals before conducting more traffic analysis, noting that a reduced speed limit could have unintended negative implications.
“Our goal is to improve safety for crossing students during specific times of the day and we feel this should be achieved with the new beacons,” wrote Losier.
