If you’re familiar with Modern Family, you may remember the episode when Claire sets her sights on city council after clocking the need for a stop sign. Read MoreSuzanne Westover: If I find zipping across this Barrhaven road unsettling, how are we comfortable asking our kids to do it for school? | Opinion
Suzanne Westover: If I find zipping across this Barrhaven road unsettling, how are we comfortable asking our kids to do it for school? | Opinion
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If you’re familiar with Modern Family, you may remember the episode when Claire sets her sights on city council after clocking the need for a stop sign.
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Her platform literally involved running around the neighbourhood, chasing down a speedy offender, yelling “Stop!” at the top of her lungs.
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This I can relate to. But sometimes fodder for TV comedy is deeply sobering in real life.
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My daughter catches a yellow school bus to ferry her and fellow students to St. Joseph High School at the corner of Highpoint Crescent and Clearbrook Drive.
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For those unfamiliar with Barrhaven, Clearbrook has the dubious distinction of ranking fifth-worst citywide for speeding among neighbourhood collection routes.
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I’ve seen it firsthand when walking with my daughter to catch the bus. The street looks like a Formula One raceway. And I’m not embarrassed to admit I’ve waved my arms and shouted at the Max Verstappen wannabes. (My best efforts at suburban mom-shaming have not proven to be an effective traffic calming measure.)
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Even more concerning, without a lit crosswalk, the signs politely reminding drivers to yield to pedestrians are equally ineffective. I have, on occasion, stood on that very corner, hand out, signalling my intention to cross, and waited, watching six or seven cars drive by, entirely oblivious. Unlike lit crosswalks, yield signs (or zebra stripes) aren’t treated like a law… they’re more like a favour.
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Barrhaven East city councillor, Wilson Lo, has this challenge in his sights, so unlike Claire, I won’t be angling for his seat anytime soon.
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Read More
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Deachman: How did Ottawa drivers get to be so horrible?
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Senack: Barrhaven is no longer the jewel of Ottawa suburbs
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However, the city’s current solution—construction work to square the curb and tighten the turning radius to shorten the crossing distance—is a half measure at best. The people turning on and off the route aren’t the problem. It’s those breezing through at 70 or 80 kilometres an hour.
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Add to this that the traffic calming barriers are removed in winter and the roads are icy. Most, if not all, children are wearing dark coloured winter coats, and too many will have earbuds in and eyes on their phones.
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Given the school’s early start, kids begin trickling out of their homes around 7:15 am. In winter, that’s still black as pitch.
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There is no morning crossing guard, because the students crossing are in grades seven to 12; whereas he or she is on duty in the afternoon to accommodate children leaving nearby elementary schools.
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