Rising costs for flattened signs lead to city review of in-street signage near schools

After spending nearly a quarter of a million dollars on replacements for flattened pedestrian signs, the City of Calgary is reviewing where these signs are placed.

The fluorescent signs were set up around Calgary elementary schools in the last couple of years to alert drivers to crosswalks and school zones. But in that time, more than 130 of the roughly 360 signs that have been put up have been run over or intentionally damaged.

Each sign costs $650 on average to replace, and as of this September, the city had spent roughly $234,000 on replacements for the damaged signs.

Busy student pick-up and drop-off times around schools, and the parking crunch these periods create, is one factor the city said is leading to its signs being run down. Tony Churchill, the city's senior leader of mobility safety, said the busy pick-up and drop-off times are leading drivers to run over pedestrian signs while navigating tight spaces.

"We know that there's lots of parking and double parking around schools unfortunately, so that may be contributing to there being tighter space and vehicles driving over these devices," Churchill said.

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About a third of Calgary's in-street pedestrian signs have been damaged since they were installed last year. The bright yellow signs are in the middle of the road outside of elementary schools and are meant to draw attention to school zones and encourage drivers to slow down. It costs an average of $650 to replace a sign, but the city remains committed to the program and says it will continue to repair them.

Churchill said the city is now reviewing where its pedestrian signs are set up and where they've been knocked over around local elementary schools. It's considering moving the signs or finding better ways to protect them. 

With the cost of replacement signs piling up, the city is weighing parking restrictions for some locations and other measures to keep its signs up.

"We may be looking at physically restricting some parking with curb extensions just to make sure that we have better compliance and so that people can actually navigate around these devices," Churchill said.

If it's clear signs are being hit intentionally, Churchill said the city may also opt for a more solid solution like a median with a regular pedestrian sign.

Despite the damage to the signs, Churchill said they have proven to be effective in getting drivers to notice school zones and crosswalks.

While the repair costs the city is seeing have climbed, Churchill noted that the cost is low compared to the harm that would be caused by a pedestrian being hit, making the signs still cost-effective to reduce speeds.

Several parents that CBC News spoke with said they appreciated the signs as a good investment for drivers and pedestrians. The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) has also supported the endeavour.

"We have been supportive of the road signs reminding drivers when they are near a school. Traffic safety is a shared responsibility that requires the support and cooperation of all Calgary drivers," the CBE said in a statement via email.

The measure was introduced after a traffic safety pilot project during the 2020-21 school year, where the city partnered with the University of Calgary to study whether in-street pedestrian signs would reduce drivers' speed and encourage more people to walk or bike. The results led the city to install in-street crosswalk signs at all elementary schools in Calgary.