Saskatoon City Council Votes for 12-Hour School Zone – Saskatoon | The Canadian News

Speed ​​changes in school zones may have been just as divisive on city cameras as outside city hall.

The Saskatoon city council needed four separate votes to finally move forward with the change of school zones, even though changing the times that the zones are in effect is extremely unpopular.

The council voted 6-5 to expand the 30 km / h zones, which are currently in effect from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., until 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The council also voted to remove traffic zones for high schools on main roads.

Most high schools are on those busiest streets, Mayor Charlie Clark told the council on Monday.

It fell to Clark, since the mayor last voted, to break the deadlock four times.

The original management report suggested changing the window from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A motion by Darren Hill from District 1 proposed retaining the original time and moving forward with the rest of the proposals, which include improving safety for seniors without using speed zones and creating speed zones for playgrounds.

Councilors voted against that motion 6-5, as well as one to extend the window by one hour, until 6 p.m.

Finally, Council Members Hilary Gough, Cynthia Block, Mairin Loewen, Sarina Gersher, Beverly Dubois, and Clark voted in favor of the 12-hour amendment.

They then had to vote in favor again to move it forward as a motion.

Dubois, chairman of the city’s transportation committee, told the council that the problem arose from the findings of more than 70 traffic checks in neighborhoods.

“The most common concern residents raise is the speed of vehicles on neighborhood streets,” he said.

Gough, speaking in favor of the motion, urged the council to think carefully about whether the extra travel time is worth the extra security around some of these more vulnerable spaces.

“I’ve heard many parents say that they don’t really feel safe letting their children walk to the park due to road safety concerns.

But the vote ignores city polls that show changing the times is deeply unpopular.

A survey, included in the documents presented to the city council, showed that 80 percent of the more than 14,000 respondents online and almost 70 percent of the 400 residents who expressed their opinion through forums, preferred to keep the same hours.

Regardless, the vote sends the issue to next week’s city budget talks for funding and tasks the administration with preparing the bylaws for final approval.

The report indicates that the change is scheduled to be implemented next year.