Dangerous entrance to Holy Name School needs immediate action, parents’ council says

The parent council at Holy Name Catholic School on King Road is calling for political leadership to improve student safety with turning lanes or traffic lights at the school entrance.

“There have been more than four rear end collisions involving vehicles turning left into the school from westbound King Road in the last several years,” commented Susy Payne, chair of the school’s parent council. “One collision this year required a mother being taken to the hospital with back injuries. Luckily, the four children in her car at the time were uninjured.”

The lack of turning lanes or traffic lights concerns the parent council, which has been working with municipal, regional and school board officials on the issue since 2000. The Region approved a left turn lane into the school in January 2005, but the lane is still not built and now an environmental assessment has to be completed first.

“As parents, we question whether our children are safe while being taken to and from the school in buses,” Payne remarked. “A hill on King Road serves as a blind spot and vehicles

coming over the hill have little time to stop when encountering a left turning bus or car. It is particularly dangerous during inclement weather.”

A York Region study of the issue in 2003 revealed that westbound vehicular traffic during the morning school hour exceeds 1,300 vehicles per hour. Cars and trucks are known to exceed the posted limit of 50 km/h by as much as 30km/hr, according to a statement issued by the school council.

“This is an issue that needs to be resolved quickly,” Payne said. “To date, there have been studies, reports and lots of talk but here we are six years into the issue and nothing has been resolved yet.”

The York Catholic District School Board was advised that it would have to pay the $150,000 to $200,000 cost of the turn lane. A regional report from January 2005 indicated that: “It is recommended that permission be granted for the installation of a westbound left turn lane provided that the Region does not pay for it.”

Board Chair (and local Trustee) Elizabeth Crowe,

said this has been a concern for a number of years, adding she has been meeting with representatives of the school community on this.

“It’s a dangerous location,” she remarked.

Crowe also observed that the region had originally stated it couldn’t do anything because of the hills on the road. They changed their minds after pressure was applied by the school community, deciding a leftturn lane could be installed, although the Region wouldn’t pay for it.

“The Board still hasn’t committed to spending the money and will not be discussing it again until sometime in January,” Payne said. “This issue has been dragging and the parents at Holy Name want to know when safety will be improved for the young children at the school.”

Crowe said the board is expecting a report on this in January. She added there’s no definite word on what it will cost yet.

She also said there’s some question as to whether the board can finance the project from its own coffers. It may not be considered part of their mandate to fund work like that.