3 Saint John schools zones to get enhanced crosswalks

The City of Saint John plans to enhance some of the crosswalks students use in busy parts of the city, and reduce the speed limit in those areas to 40 km/h from 50 km/h.

Three enhanced crosswalks with overhead lights will be installed near Centennial School in Millidgeville, and Champlain Heights School and Forest Hills School in east Saint John.

"They're definitely a safer option than normal marked crosswalks," said Tim O'Reilly, traffic engineer for the city.

The eventual plan is to reduce the speed limits near those schools between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Last year the city introduced the 40 km/h limit on Union Street in front of Prince Charles School and on Loch Lomond Road near Bayview School.

"Studies show when you have reduced speeds around school areas, that reduces the amount of collisions as well as the severity of them if there is a collision," O'Reilly said.

"It's done in a lot of different municipalities around the country, and we will continue to do that this year as well."

Tuesday marks the first day of classes in New Brunswick schools.

O'Reilly says drivers should pay special attention to students on their way to class next week.

"There's going to be a lot of kids walking around as of Tuesday, that'll be a change for everyone,"he said.

"So watch out generally for children, respect the speeds in school zones … watch out for school buses when they're stopping with red lights and respect those, and obviously when kids are trying to cross the street, to watch for them as well."

Saint John police will be patrolling school zones on Tuesday.

If motorists are caught, fines are double the usual fine for speeding.