Road safety is in focus this year.
The City of Lethbridge has announced details of initiatives aimed at making local roads safer for both drivers and pedestrians, including in school zones.
One of the big drivers is the City’s goal of having zero transportation-related deaths or serious injuries by the year 2040. The project aims to improve the local culture around road safety and risky driving behaviours.
Heather Gowland, Communications Strategist with the Transportation department says this spring, you will likely spot City staff and project consultants around schools, parent drop-off zones and nearby crosswalks. They will be taking notes to get a better idea of driver and pedestrian habits in those areas to help create safe school travel plans.
Gowland adds a community telephone survey is also set to launch on Thursday, May 15.
“We are going to be asking questions about attitudes, perceptions and behaviours around road safety and traffic safety,” she says.
“We just ask that community members answer the phone. It’s about a 20-minute survey, so we understand that’s a little bit of a time investment but it’s really important work and we are really hoping people will answer the phone [and] answer all the questions.”
The survey will target residents 18 and older. Additionally, responses from youths 16 to 18 will be collected primarily through an online link shared with high school students.
Residents can also share their thoughts online if they have any traffic safety concerns about specific school zones. Gowland adds staff will be doing ‘school walkabouts’ with parents, teachers and other school workers to address problem areas.
Ahmed Ali, Lethbridge’s Traffic Engineer and Transportation Planner, says school travel plans have several components, including engineering, which represents areas like parking at schools and the installation of crosswalks. Ali adds education is another important aspect of improving road safety, especially starting that education at a young age.
“There is evidence that over 70 per cent of collisions, especially the ones that result in serious injuries and fatalities, are because of speed or because of some behavioral issues. If we can impart education at a young age, then we are hoping that the future drivers will be much safer,” Ali says.
READ MORE: A shared responsibility: Improving road safety in Lethbridge
The road safety initiative is a joint effort with agencies like the Lethbridge Police Service, Alberta Motor Association, Alberta Health Services and local school divisions involved.
Meghan Calder, the principal at Our Lady of the Assumption School, says a project like this is incredibly important for the school community.
“I think parents are looking to know that we are working together with them, with the City of Lethbridge, to create plans that can help encourage safe walking to schools, safe bike travel, safe bus travel in the area [of Our Lady of the Assumption School],” Calder states.
“We have already communicated with them [parents] about working on this project, so we’re collecting information from them, as we speak, and we’ll use that to inform the plan moving forward.”
Allison Purcell with AMA School Safety Patrol says school patrollers have helped on crosswalks for over 85 years, making sure kids get to school safely.
“Doing these school travel plans is a great opportunity for us to work together with the City, with the schools and with community partners to look at safe initiatives. So, on top of school safety patrol, we can look at alternative options like piloting walking school buses, adult crossing educators,” Purcell says.
“It really is about changing the behaviour of people in our communities as they are approaching where students are crossing every day.”
The road safety project is slated to wrap up at the end of the year and outcomes will be shared publicly in both English and French.
Further details on the project will be posted at the Get Involved Lethbridge webpage.
