People driving through school zones in the morning will have to slow down earlier and that is causing some questions to arise.
During the Monday afternoon City of Kelowna council meeting, it was approved that school zone speed limit times will begin at 7:30 a.m., not 8 a.m.
"I know it's difficult when rules are changed like this, especially when motorists have become used to it starting at 8 a.m. But, I know that the city said they will change the signs and it will be good," Moyra Baxter, chairperson for the Central Okanagan School District, told KelownaNow.
Baxter said they’ve been asking for this change for a while now and she’s happy Kelowna is the first city in the district to change the times.
Not everyone is happy about the change, though.
“It’s a tough issue. Kid’s safety is paramount of course. However, broader school zone times will create an even bigger congestion issue for commuters going up and down Chute Lake,” Upper Mission resident, Rick Maddison said. “If the expanded school zones do go into effect then I hope there is a broader plan in place to deal with the added congestion and idling that will be caused as a result.”
Fred Wollin, the traffic operations supervisor with the city of Kelowna, said the congestion issue is a simple fix.
"People just need to leave a minute earlier. It's a minor impact and it is funny how most of the comments are from the mission area. We have those two roads that get congested and most of the people in that area drive or leave at the same time," Wollin explained.
The school zone speed limit will be 30 kilometres an hour from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Baxter said they have wanted this change because a lot of students go to school before 8 a.m.
The city said will change about 90 signs to have the new times prominently featured in the zones. The signs will cost about $3,000.
There will be an education period at the end of August where the school district and the city will work together to spread the word about the new times.
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