City closes foot path to school where 11-year-old student was killed by a driver
City workers on Monday temporarily closed a walkway near the rear of Kennedy Public School, where an 11-year-old boy was fatally struck by a driver last month.
"It's not a measure that I took lightly and it's not a measure that we all took lightly," said Coun. Jim Karygiannis, who represents ward 39.
"We just want to make sure that . . . we put measures in place to make sure that children can cross, and cross safely."
Karygiannis joined a city work crew for the closure.
The boy, who was a student at Kennedy Public School, was struck near the intersection of Canongate Trail and Purcell Square — where a foot path that leads to Kennedy connects Purcell Square — around 3:30 p.m. last Tuesday.
He was taken to hospital where he later died of his injuries.
Karygiannis said he has been working with parents "for a long time" to make the area safer for children.
He said he's also been in talks with Transportation Toronto to put speed bumps and other mitigating measures in place.
"We have had speed bumps conversations for the last three years; we sent flyers in the neighbourhood. But the response was not great. To put speed bumps we need to have 75 per cent of the people onboard," Karygiannis said.
"Hopefully we'll get everybody onboard to make sure that no accidents like this happen again. Every child has the right to go to school, every child has the right to come back home safe and alive and every parent needs to make sure that their kids come home."
