Parking and traffic flow are hot button issues around many St. Albert schools. The issues have motorists steamed and area residents angry.
Residents near one city school complained to the Gazette recently that they are getting threats and rude gestures when they complain to motorists who have blocked their driveways. Some frustrated area residents say they have city bylaw enforcement on speed-dial to issue tickets to offending motorists.
Some St. Albertans say they see unsafe driving often around schools that are putting students, residents and other motorists at risk. A story in the Gazette (Oct. 1) spurred calls and letters from people in neighbourhoods around other city schools who shared their frustration about similar experiences.
Motorists have a responsibility to behave in a safe manner and follow the rules of the road, regardless of their frustrations. They should never park across driveways.
School administration, for its part, does what it can to keep the lid on conflicts. Every school term it is a ritual for school principals to remind parents, students and staff to drive safely around schools, to respect the neighbours and to stay out of areas reserved for buses, staff or resident parking.
But some say school design and road design near schools is contributing to the problem. Put simply, there is not enough room around many city schools for the type of traffic at peak times of the day. Most of the conflicts occur during the morning student drop off or afternoon pick up times.
More parents are driving students to school than in the past. There are many reasons for this. Some parents want to avoid bus fees, provide safe door-to-door transport, or help students get to after school activities more quickly than walking or buses would allow.
The problem is that many schools and roads around them were not designed for the amount of traffic and parking that they are seeing. This lack of room to flow is putting area residents and motorists in a proverbial hot box.
Glynis Edwards, chair of the St. Albert Public School Board, says local schools need bigger sites, that sites should be chosen and advertised before subdivisions are built, and better road access should be planned around schools. This would prevent bottlenecks that cul de sacs and narrow streets create.
Mayor Nolan Crouse doesn’t think that increasing the size of the sites will solve the problem. Crouse said managing conflicts around schools is a complex problem that requires education, engineering, and enforcement.
This is not a new problem, nor is it one limited to St. Albert.
A paper prepared for a national transportation safety conference in P.E.I. last year summarized the problem: “Schools across Canada need to consider transportation safety, both on-site and in the surrounding community. More children are being driven to school today than in the past. As a result, transportation facilities at and around schools may not be operating as safely as originally planned.” The paper said that school site designs are not reflective of current practices.
The paper said it is imperative that new schools incorporate features that accommodate school travel for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus drop off/pickup and parent drop-off/pick-up areas. The sites should also be chosen with a view to road networks, parking and loading considerations.
St. Albert and other jurisdictions across the country need to plan school sites and the roadways around them with the new considerations in mind. These efforts may prevent many of the conflicts that are occurring today.
