With school starting up, should school zones be implemented in Dauphin?
Deputy City Manager, Renee St. Goddard, says to her knowledge there have never been school zones in Dauphin.
She says city council has previously discussed the idea of school zones.
“When legislation came out that allowed for reduced speed zones near schools, the city spoke with MVSD. The school division has not had any incidents or near misses to report to the city for 14 years at minimum. We continue to partner with the school division to provide safe traffic and pedestrian movement around schools.”
St. Goddard adds, they’ve received inquiries from the public about school zones but there haven’t been any complaints.
She says the city looks at all safety issues.
“We look at all safety issues to address safety around the schools such as stop signs, crosswalks, solid fences, no parking around schools so buses have better visibility, and ease of turning for parking lots and entrances to allow for easier bus and parent pick-ups and drop-offs. So that increases the safety around school zones.”
St. Goddard believes the city is working well with MVSD to make sure the appropriate levels of safety are being considered.
St. Goddard doesn’t know if one area needs school zones more than the other, but she did point out the higher number of schools on Mountain.
“We did do a speed study this summer on both sides of Mountain Road, but we haven’t received the data yet to analyze. I don’t know if one area needs one more than the other but that comes to mind as a frequent area that often sees an increase in traffic once school starts.”
St. Goddard wants to remind drivers to be cautious as students head back to school.
