by Sylene Argent
Traffic calming measures have been installed around Gosfield North Public School, ahead of the start of a new year school-year.
At the July 21 regular meeting, Essex County Council adopted an amendment to its By-Law that regulates traffic and parking on highways within the Essex County Roads System to designate a school zone at Gosfield North Public School on a portion of County Road 27 within the Town of Kingsville.
As part of the amendment, and to implement traffic calming measures, the school area signs were upgraded to school zone signs and the posted 80kph speed limit was reduced to 60 kph from Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm nearing the school.
The issue was first talked about at County Council at its April 7 meeting, when the dignitaries passed a resolution to add a School Safety Zone at Gosfield North Public School as a traffic calming measure. Around that time, Kingsville Council had also discussed and endorsed the matter.
As Gosfield North Public School rests on a County Road, changes needed to be approved at the municipal level, through the Town of Kingsville, and the County of Essex.
In past discussions on the issue, it was noted that because of the pandemic, many parents were dropping-off and picking-up their children from the school. The school’s internal parking lot was becoming congested with buses coming in and out, and staff and parents entering and exiting at the same two locations at the same time. Additional cars were waiting on the shoulder of the road, until they were able to get into the parking area, which was reducing sightlines of the road.
Jane Mustac, Director of Infrastructure Services for the County of Essex, noted at the July 21 County Council meeting that staff from her department conducted a review of the roadway to consider daily traffic volume, vehicle operating speed, pedestrian volumes, collision history, and the presence (or lack of) multi-modal amenities to determine areas that would benefit from being designated as a community safety zone or school safety zone.
Through the study, Mustac told members of County Council that 85 percent of vehicles were travelling at a rate of speed that was greater than the posted speed limit on a continuous basis.