A change in school zone times could be coming to New West

New Westminster’s District and Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) has opened the door to a possible change in the current school zone times posted throughout the city.

Currently, drivers abide by a 30 km/h speed limit from 8am to 5pm on school days. However, DPAC’s Laura Kwong explained on Tuesday during the New West school board meeting that getting the time changed to 7am to 10pm is something the advisory council supports.

“At our January DPAC meeting, DPAC members passed four motions. We had three to write letters of advocacy, and one to speak as a delegation at city council on Feb. 13,” explained Kwong, who added that one of those letters had been sent to the City of New Westminster.

“[The letter is] requesting the extension of school zone speed limit enforcement hours to align with those of our neighbouring municipality, Burnaby.”

Kwong says the idea is to give pedestrians more protection, especially as other people use schools beyond the current posted hours.

How did Burnaby do it?

According to City of Burnaby documents, it was in September of 2019 when two school board trustees appeared before that city’s traffic safety committee to request, on behalf of the city’s school district, an extension of the school zone hours.

About two years later, a report made the recommendation to extend those hours.

“Speed limits within school zones in Burnaby follow the regulations stipulated by the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) which states that the speed limit shall be 30 km/h between 8:00am-5:00pm on school days. The MVA also allows municipalities the flexibility to extend the effective hours through municipal bylaws as long as it is no less than 8:00am-5:00pm,” a 2021 report from the City of Burnaby reads.

The report also cited Vancouver’s changes: in 2020 it opted to bring the speed limit to 30 km/h at school and park zones; that speed limit is in effect 24/7.

In Burnaby’s case, it had to replace about 600 signs at an estimated cost of $100,000, and the replacement hadn’t been included in Burnaby’s 2021 capital plan.

Burnaby added that it could not, in its case, recommend the move seen in Vancouver, because the MVA doesn’t provide flexibility for municipalities to do that. The topic also went to the Union of BC Municipalities for discussion.

Along with the speed limit changes in Burnaby, there were 36 school areas and 36 park areas in which speed humps were also set to be installed.

All the speed humps in Burnaby are set to be installed by 2026.

“Reducing speeds to 30 km/h dramatically enhances safety by reducing the likelihood and severity of a crash. Research shows that the risk of death from being hit by a car travelling at 50 km/h is six times higher than by a car travelling at 30 km/h.,” a statement from the City of Burnaby reads.

Burnaby Mounties initially ran a campaign that aimed to educate and warn motorists who didn’t abide by the new rules. The RCMP eventually began, in April of 2021, enforcement and ticketing.