'They shouldn't be driving anywhere near schools'

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The Moncton Active Transportation Coalition is calling for safer routes to school after a Grade 5 student was struck by a vehicle last week while cycling to Northrop Frye School. 

According to a news release from the coalition, several parents witnessed the incident, which occurred at the intersection of Twin Oaks Drive and Falcon Drive on Friday morning. 

The student was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

“Clearly, we’ve got a problem,” Calvin Martini, the coalition’s president, told Brunswick News. 

He said if a child was struck there, it could happen anywhere. 

“That intersection is big, wide and straight. You have superb visibility. There are almost no cars going on that road and that’s where that child got hit,” he said. 

Rachel Fox, a coalition member and the mother of five kids, lives about three kilometres from the school. It wasn’t a surprise to her that a child was hit in the area. 

“The only surprising part is that it’s taken this long to happen,” she said. 

While the school was designed with the idea that most of the students would be walking or biking, the infrastructure surrounding the school doesn’t support that, she said. 

“There are no bike lanes and there’s not even a shoulder that kids can bike on,” she said. 

Despite being an active parent who runs and bikes daily, she doesn’t encourage her own children to bike in the neighbourhood. 

“Three kilometres should totally be within the realm of kids my kids age being able to bike to school, but it’s just not safe,” she said. 

Fox said it’s not uncommon to see drivers speeding, driving while distracted, and breaking other traffic laws and that doesn’t change during the hours when kids are walking and cycling to and from school. 

“You would not believe the traffic in the morning. It’s backed up easily three-quarters of a kilometre in both directions. People are obviously frustrated and angry and making choices in that mindset,” she said, adding that drivers are aggressive and don’t obey the traffic guard. 

“She’s having people run through when she’s in the middle of the road. . . It’s a really scary place to be in the morning.” 

‘They shouldn’t be driving anywhere near schools’

Councillor Dave Steeves brought up the incident during Monday’s Moncton city council meeting, asking Codiac RCMP Superintendent Benoit Jolette if he could begin or continue discussions on the creation of a traffic division within the detachment.

“I feel like we might be behind as far as regulating speeds and all that sort of thing,” he said.

Jolette said the incident occurred near a crosswalk. He said no charges laid against the driver following an investigation, based on the actions of the student on the bike.

He said a traffic team is one of the additional recourses police proposed more than a year ago.

“It’s something that we would love to see,” Jolette said.

Martini said it will take a multi-pronged approach the make the trip to school safer for students. He said that includes parents walking or biking with their kids to school instead of driving them. 

He said at École Sainte-Bernadette in Moncton, there is a group of 20 students who bike with two supervising parents every day. 

“That’s 20 fewer cars dropping off kids at that school,” he said. 

For schools where this wouldn’t work, he said there needs to be collaboration between the schools, parents and the city to develop safe routes. Strategies include raised crosswalks and narrowed roads at crossings. 

City spokesperson Isabelle LeBlanc said that last November, city council approved a Traffic Calming and Speed Management Strategy and Twin Oaks Drive was identified in it.

“A traffic calming plan will be designed specifically for that area,” she said. 

Some of the measures that will be considered include raised crosswalks, raised intersections, speed bumps, speed cushions, and driver feedback signs,” said LeBlanc. The city will receive input from emergency services and Codiac Transpo on the design. 

“The City’s Engineering Department will also be reviewing intersections on Twin Oaks Drive to determine if additional crosswalks are needed,” she said. The sign process will begin shortly.

Coalition members will make a presentation during the next meeting of to discuss the need for safer routes to all schools.  

Along with improvements to infrastructure, the coalition is advocating for stricter enforcement on speeding and distracted driving, improved signage and for measures that will deter speeding. 

Martini also suggests creating a buffer zone near schools where only school buses are allowed. Parents who are driving children would need to go to a designated drop-off area where kids can continue to walk to school with or without parents. 

“They shouldn’t be driving anywhere near schools,” he said. 

Anglophone East School District Superintendent Randolph MacLEAN said the district is “more than happy” to be part of the conversations and work on creating safer routes.

“I’ve said this before. We don’t want more traffic around schools. The safest way to get to and from school is a school bus but we also want children to have an opportunity to bike and walk to school,” he said.