Back to school faced with construction, shortage of crossing guards
Angela Bosse | CBC News | Posted: September 4, 2018 10:28 AM | Last Updated: September 4, 2018
Fredericton construction slowly wraps up as students head back to school
Children across the province are trading their swim towels for backpacks today.
Sept. 4 marks the first day of school in New Brunswick.
This means more children will be on the roads and sidewalks as they make their way to their classrooms.
Most summer construction projects are wrapping up just in time for the increased traffic, but not all the construction headaches are over yet.
Fredericton's project engineer Greg McCann said Smythe Street will be reopened at 7 a.m. today, but cautioned drivers to take it slow, as it hasn't been paved yet. He said it will be paved during off peak hours by the end of week.
Riverside Drive and Lincoln Road opened Friday.
Forest Hill Road is open, but traffic is still closed on the Rte. 8 overpass going up the hill, McCann said in an interview with Information Morning Fredericton.
The Ring Road construction is expected to be complete by mid-October.
While some students will be hopping on school buses or being dropped off by parents for today's first day, others will be hitting the sidewalks to walk to school.
This means the city's crossing guards are back to work, but Fredericton police Insp. Kim Quartermain said there are not quite enough guards to go around.
There is currently one vacancy for a permanent crossing guard position, but Quartermain said they don't have any temporary crossing guards, who fill in when one guard may be sick or unavailable.
The police force is looking to create a pool of temporary crossing guards, along with filling the opening in Kingsclear Consolidated of the Trans Canada Highway.
"It's not your typical 8:30 to 4:30 type of employment," Quartermain said in an interview with Information Morning Fredericton.
Regular crossing guards can expect to work 15 hours a week, Monday to Friday. They make a minimum wage salary and get statutory holidays off, following the school calendar.
"A lot of our crossing guards are longtime employees with us, they are retired," Quartermain said.
"We try to make them part of our policing family."