THUNDER BAY – The City of Thunder Bay is adding a new school crossing guard location near Claude E. Garton school, while it will remove another near Vance Chapman after studies showed low use.
A crossing guard will be added on Leslie Avenue at Talbot Street, along the eastern edge of Claude Garton’s yard, for the start of the 2022-2023 school year.
A school crossing guard location at Shuniah Street and Huron Avenue, a block east of Vance Chapman, will also be removed at that time.
The location no longer met the city’s criteria for a crossing, staff reported to city council Monday.
Studies carried out over three days in April and May of this year found no student and conflicting vehicular movement, and an average of just one child crossing on Huron Avenue.
The city’s School Zone Safety Policy calls for a crossing guard where there are students crossing often, poor driver behaviour, and/or when data on conflicting vehicular volume reaches a certain threshold.
The city also noted a pedestrian crossover is available to cross Shuniah Street in the area.
The principal of Vance Chapman School did not object to the proposal, the city reported, and the Thunder Bay Police Traffic Unit supported the recommendation.
A traffic study at Leslie and Talbot was conducted over three days in November 2021 at the request of Claude Garton administration.
It found an average of 28 students crossing on a daily basis, with some student and conflicting vehicular movements that met criteria for adding a crossing guard.
The recommendations were approved unanimously by city council Monday.
The move will cost the city $1,100 to erect school crossing signs and to create an accessible ramp connection to the existing sidewalk.
The $7,000 savings in crossing guard salary and benefits from the removal at Vance Chapman will be balanced by the addition at Claude Garton.
