Should Slave Lake extend or otherwise change the school zone times? It has been suggested as a good thing to do in the interest of safety.

But before doing anything, the town wants to find out what people think, and finding out what people think is harder than people might think.

For the time being, the town follows the provincial guidelines on school and playground zone times. As follows:

Playgrounds zones are 8:30 a.m. til one hour after sunset, seven days a week.

School zones are 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

During those hours, the speed limit is 30 kilometres per hour. Otherwise it’s 50 kph.

Council is looking at three options. One is to have all-day school zones, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., five days per week.

The second option is to treat school and playground zones the same, and have one 30 kph zone, running all day, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in both.

The third option is to leave things the way they are.

What do you think?

There are a couple of easy options for providing feedback. The one the town would prefer would be to sign up at engageslavelake.ca. The other is to fill out a feedback form on the town’s website.

Or, if you’re old school, something on paper turned in to the town office would work, as would an email.

Town CAO Jeff Simpson provided the following explanation for the survey: “Council and administration (have) received a number of concerns from parents, school boards, and parent associations over the past year concerning the safety and well being of our littlest residents walking to and from school or accessing our playgrounds after school hours. In an effort to truly engage with our residents, a project soliciting their input was creating using our newest tool, Engageslavelake.ca , to gather those comments and thoughts. As this issue has the potential to have a significant impact on our children’s safety, it’s crucial that we reach as many residents as possible to gather this input.”

The town is considering changes to school and playground speed zone hours, but doesn’t want to make any moves without first hearing loud and clear from the public.

by Leader staff

May 9, 2023

This item copyrighted by   AlbertaChat.com / Lakeside Leaader   Slave Lake, Alberta

Comments are Welcome - Use the 'Join the Discussion' above any replies, or 'TheRegional / Chat' below replies. Both links take you to the same place. You will be asked to become a registered user if you are not one already - Posts are moderated