St. Albert city council will soon be asked to make a decision on the future of Villeneuve Road. I believe the option to keep the road open, rather than closing a portion of it, would be the most realistic and safe option for students of nearby Muriel Martin, J.J. Nearing elementary schools, which are both on Deer Ridge Drive.
If council decides to close part of Villeneuve Road, it would likely force more traffic onto nearby Deer Ridge Drive, making students’ journeys to school along that road more dangerous.
In at least two of the proposals to close portions of Villeneuve Road presented at a recent open house, it was acknowledged that those proposals might result in traffic shortcutting through surrounding neighbourhoods. The main impact would likely be on nearby Deer Ridge Drive and tiny Dennison, which are fully residential streets.
Potentially creating more traffic on Deer Ridge Drive, which would affect its two schools, seems to be in direct contravention to many of the strategies outlined in the recently released consultant’s report on the Safe Journeys to School Initiative. Its strategies to make school zones safer include encouraging more children to walk and bike to school, and reducing and slowing traffic near schools.
At the recent open house on the future of Villeneuve Road, many people whose homes back that road complained they wanted it closed to cut down on traffic noise, stop the flow of large commercial vehicles, and reduce speeding.
Traffic calming measures, such as the use of roundabouts, putting in curbs and sidewalks to make the road narrower and banning large commercial trucks could answer some of those concerns after Fowler Way is constructed.
Whatever happens to Villeneuve Road must also be seen in the context of the overall safety issues in the adjacent Deer Ridge neighbourhood and its schools.
The Safe Journeys to School Initiative was created because a child died in a busy school zone. That is a tragedy that should never be repeated and city council has the power to do its part to try and ensure that it doesn’t happen in my neighbourhood.
Lisa Arrowsmith, St. Albert
