A Salem man has started a petition to have more traffic control around the Salem Public School.
Chris Spencer said he started the petition because the area around the school appears dangerous to him. He said drivers coming down Sideroad 15 move from an 80km/hour zone to a 40 in front of the school.
As well, he said, there are multiple entrances to the school and no crosswalks, and no speed bumps to alert drivers to watch out for children.
Spencer admitted that the issue is “a multi-year battle.” He has lived in Centre Wellington for nine years, and in the Salem Public School catchment area for six of those. He has three children attending and another that will be attending.
He started an online petition, and said his wife is also gathering names.
The issue has been around for a long time, and the old Nichol council, in the 1990s, heard many concerns from parents, but decided that OPP speed enforcement was the best way to slow down traffic.
Spencer said he had the impression “The only action will be when there are incidents.”
To date, there have been no major accidents in the area involving students.
But Spencer said he cannot understand how Centre Wellington Township refuses to put safety measures in place when it seems to have plenty of money for beautification projects.
“It’s kind of amazing to me,” he said. It’s bothersome. I am a ratepayer and pay lots of taxes.”
The petition states, “Currently Salem Public School] services 172 local children. In addition the school is a bus drop-off point for other schools and is used extensively by the local community in a manner of different ways (sledding, park, soccer, and other recreational activities).
“The school sits on Sideroad 15, a busy through way for traffic linking Fergus and Elora, and as well, acts as a bypass for both commercial and residential traffic.
“Today, the safety of the SPS children and community in general is provided by two painted school crossing markings, two small school crossing signs, and a speed restriction to 40km in the school zone. There are no overhead crosswalk signs, crossing guards, speed bumps or other safety measures in place to proactively diminish the likelihood of a preventable accident.
“We, the undersigned, call on Michael Wood (CAO) Township of Centre Wellington and local council to improve crosswalk and general community access and safety by improving signage (overhead sign), improving crosswalk visibility, and improve speed reduction controls on Sideroad 15.”
The petition can be found athttp://www.gopetition.com/petition/40006.html.
