At its Sept. 22 meeting, Huntsville Council gave municipal staff the green light to apply for funding in order to make school zones safer places.
The funding application aligns with the Town’s Active Transportation plan and would enable improvements to school access, including special speed calming measures, which the Town has already identified as a priority.
“The plan presents several project examples including improving access to local schools via active transportation. The plan recognizes that the District Municipality of Muskoka owns and maintains many of the roads on which Huntsville schools are situated on, many of which include shoulders that are not classified as sidewalks, and that this can be a barrier to developing active transportation infrastructure especially as it pertains to permanent installations and winter operations,” states the report from staff.
“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) administers several funding programs through their Green Municipal Fund (GMF), including the Safe and Active School Routes opportunity. The program is designed to support new or improved active transportation infrastructure along school routes and includes expert training and connection with national leaders in active school travel to help drive lasting change in the community,” stated Town of Huntsville Climate Action Strategist David Zilkey.
School projects being considered could include Spruce Glen and Riverside public schools. The grant would cover up to 50 per cent of the cost, with a $125,000 limit, according to the staff report.
Council unanimously approved the application and hoped it would be a success.
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This is welcome news. I encourage the District and the Town to look beyond our shores for inspiration and guidance. Specifically, the Netherlands has countless examples of some of the best active transportation and traffic calming measures on the planet.
In their school zones, the Dutch purposefully narrow the streets (immediately slows vehicle traffic down), widen the sidewalks (putting an emphasis on active transportation), install raised crossings (that also act as speed bumps), use a corser material/texture on the road surface (increases the perceived road noise by the driver as another reminder to slow down), and provide median-separated bike lanes so the kids can get to school safely.
This is intelligent design that actually slows vehicles down, while simultaneously emphasizing active transportation and child safety. Why don’t we do that?