MELFORT — Melfort’s Brunswick Elementary is asking the City of Melfort to make improvements to the streets that surround the school to improve student safety.
In a letter to the city, principal Rodney White asked if the crosswalks at the T-intersection right in front of the school, Brunswick Street and Stovel Avenue, could be enhanced, possibly with bump-out curbs and raised crosswalks. He also asked if the intersection at Bemister Avenue and Scotia Street could be turned into a four-way stop.
Coun. Doug Terry, the chair of the city’s works and utilities committee, said the committee’s also concerned about the number of cars dropping off children each school day.
“That’s where the congestion is: parents dropping off children all at the same location and children running between parked cars and in front of moving vehicles,” he said. “That’s the concern. I’m not sure if a crosswalk’s going to solve that.”
The councillor said the city is looking at options.
“One option that we may look at is a drop-off lane than parents could pull into the one lane. Unfortunately the school buses are also doing the same thing and you can’t cause congestion for the school buses.”
The city will be evaluating the situation before taking action.
“There’s a number of issues to look at as to what would be the best, if any, improvement there,” Terry said. “We’re going to study that, there will be some visual observations during the school year, and there will be studies of other areas and what they have done in similar situations.”
