School zone safety: St. John's parent says more is needed

Some parents in the Airport Heights area of St. John's have taken to social media to express their concerns about safety in the school zone around Roncalli Elementary.

A school zone study led to the speed in the area being reduced to 30 k/hr, but there have been numerous complaints of speeding and drivers ignoring the crosswalk.

• Back to school means back to traffic for St. John's drivers
• St. John's elementary school zone speeds reduced

Jill Bruce is one parent who is worried about her child's safety.

You're just flabbergasted that someone would do that in that area.- RNC Const. George Carter

She told CBC's St. John's Morning show that more needs to be done in the area before something tragic happens.

"People are being seen on cell phones driving, they're speeding through the school zones, they're not stopping at the stop signs," said Bruce.

"And if you're not stopping at the stop sign you're turning directly onto a crosswalk."

The school zone is well equipped with signage, Bruce said, but those signs are too small and hard for drivers to see.

"We also find the digital speed signs really help. We've had them on the poles for a while but now they're gone," said Bruce.

She added that some parents would like to see speed bumps installed, since she said those have proven to calm traffic in other areas and would definitely help.

"I think anything at this point just to slow down the traffic. We've got a lot of great drivers, we've got a lot of conscious drivers, but it just creeps up," said Bruce.

Caught in the act

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is also aware of the issues in this particular school zone and has received complaints, but said the problem persits.

Const. George Carter said he was on a routine patrol in the Roncalli Elementary school area Wednesday and ticketed a driver for breaking the rules.

It's scary for him, he says to me almost every second day, "Oh, another near miss today."- Jill Bruce

Carter was in an unmarked car waiting for traffic to turn into the school, when a man pulled out to pass right next to the crosswalk.

"He didn't actually get around us, we decided to pull out and block his attempt to pass, obviously for safety reasons with children out by the crosswalk," Carter told CBC's Cecil Haire.

"You're just flabbergasted that someone would do that in that area. You just shake your head, you're just wondering what goes through people's minds … obviously that's unacceptable."

Safety measures

There is a crossing guard at Roncalli, but Bruce said he is only on duty during the morning and after school. During lunch, when kindergarten students are let out of school, she said there is no crossing guard on duty.

"It's scary for him, he says to me almost every second day, 'Oh, another near miss today,'" said Bruce.

We've got a lot of great drivers, we've got a lot of conscious drivers, but it just creeps up.- Jill Bruce

Drivers also park in the buffer school zone which is mistaken for bike lanes making it difficult for the crossing guard to see traffic around the vehicles.

Bruce believes more awareness is needed to make drivers pay attention and for traffic flow to improve, and the city needs to be more involved. Outgoing Coun. Bernard Davis will be moving from Ward 4 to provincial politics, so the area is currently without a councillor.

"We're hoping that in the coming months we get someone who's just as strong a candidate because that's what we need up here," said Bruce.