The Sea to Sky School district (SD48) will be writing in support of traffic calming measures around local schools in response to a request from some Squamish residents.
The district board discussed the issue at the recent committee of the whole meeting on Feb.14, with assistant superintendent Paul Lorette explaining that the district has received correspondence from locals concerned about traffic on Third Avenue in Squamish, between Pemberton Avenue and Bailey Street, which is a popular walking route for students headed to and from Squamish Elementary and Howe Sound Secondary from downtown Squamish.
"What they are saying is that a number of school children are walking along that route up to a crosswalk on their way to school, and if you look at a map, it is actually a high likelihood that there is a significant number of students who would take that route.
"They say the problem is traffic is very fast, they're not stopping at the crosswalk [on Third]. They're asking for a three-way stop be put in at Bailey Street and Third Avenue; they're asking for a school zone be established on that stretch, and for speed bumps to be put on either side of the crosswalks."
Lorette said that the district had been asked for a letter of support for greater traffic calming measures along the road, which would be passed along to the District of Squamish.
When asked about whether it was a new route for students, Lorette explained it was an area of town that had been built up over the last 10 years.
"There's quite a large townhouse development back there; there's townhouse developments and condo developments at the south end of Squamish, so this would be a route that families and students would take."
The crosswalk in the middle of Third was noted to have difficult sightlines due to parking.
Board member Lisa Turpin expressed opposition to installing speed bumps given the impact they had on drivers with spinal injuries, while saying that other traffic calming measures would be welcomed.
Overall, the board showed no opposition to the ask, but concerns were raised over focusing too much attention on one area of concern when there could be other roads in the municipality where traffic calming was also needed.
The board decided to write a general letter of support encouraging greater traffic calming measures around schools while using the Third Ave stretch between Pemberton Ave and Bailey St as an example.
The segment of the meeting discussing the ask can be watched on the SD48 YouTube channel; it begins at 47:57.
