Teulon council is considering taking steps towards a safer walkway for students.
On Wednesday, Jan. 31 at the committee of the whole meeting, Teulon Coun. Kirt Ansell spoke to the rest of council about the need for a safer crossing for children. He expressed the need for a walking path for school-age children who attend the new Playstreet Childcare Centre to safely access the elementary school. He suggested that the back lane, which is owned by the town, could serve as a four-season active transportation trail if the municipality plows and maintains it.
“A new childcare facility opened in the northeast corner of town and is currently in a state of growth with its school-age program. Having an eventual capacity of approximately 60 school-age children, this large group of children are currently crossing Highway 17 at an uncontrolled location to later cross it again via the crosswalk in front of the elementary school because there is no safe path of travel between their location and the elementary school,” said Ansell, who was involved with launching the daycare.
“This daycare is located on the same side of the highway as the school, but they have to cross it twice because of the lack of an all-season walking path to get them to and from school safely.”
The proposed pathway would also be accessible to other community members, including those in the 55-plus demographic.
“Playstreet Childcare and the Knotty Pines 55+ are located along the same side of Highway 17 and they don’t want to have to cross it if they don’t need to,” Ansell said.
“The 55-plus are simply looking for a walking trail for exercise and, for some, to walk to meet their grandchildren coming to visit them after school. Why should a 70-year-old grandparent have to walk further than they need to?”
Ansell noted that kids and other pedestrians have no specific travel path between the schools and the northeast side of the community, which leads to disorganized crossing of 1st Avenue NE, known locally as School Street.
Adding to the problem, vehicle traffic is busy in the area with buses and parents driving to and from the schools, who need to keep close watch while children cross the street haphazardly.
“High school children walking south along the existing gravel path parallel to School Street have no safe path across Highway 17 to access the southeast and southwest side of the community,” Ansell added.
“The gravel path they are walking on leads to the highway, not to the highway crosswalk further west.”
Ansell expressed frustration that previous and current councils have discussed this ongoing safety concern over a long period of time but little action has taken place.
He further suggests that the town could install two crosswalks — one near the high school and the other near the elementary school to connect to the back lane. These crosswalks could be elevated, which would allow them to also act as speed bumps.
In addition, he recommends removing the hedge that runs east to west in front of the elementary school and replacing it with a gravel path that would continue to the proposed crosswalk.
“This gives high school students and other pedestrian traffic accessibility to the current crosswalk instead of crossing the highway where the current gravel path ends and also gives the daycare access to the preferred entrance of the elementary school so they don’t have to walk alongside the buses in the bus loop,” he said.
At the same time, the gravel path would serve as the start of an east-west walking path connection for active transportation within the community.
The proposed pathway would also help the daycare staff and children avoid the busy street traffic during school pick-up and drop-off times. In addition the daycare could also use the walking path to access the schoolyard after school hours with kids of all ages.
“This request for year-round access of the back lane as an active transportation trail is the first step to providing safe passage for the community’s children that are entrusted to this new 100-space childcare facility,” Ansell said.
“As council, we need to recognize their presence in the community and their requirements from us as a town — that is, the request to keep this back lane plowed so it can be used.”
The topic will come back to council for further discussion.
