Parent says 'cars don't stop' at intersection in front of Sherwood Elementary
At the corner of Maple Avenue and Pine Drive, right by Sherwood Elementary, Bethany Collicutt-McNab watches as car after car rolls through.
The intersection is a four-way stop but Collicutt-McNab said it's all too often that people drive through it without fully stopping or breaking at all.
"This intersection is dangerous. Cars don't stop. Sometimes they slow down. They rarely come to a full stop and it's bad all day, especially in the mornings when the children are walking to school," she said.
Collicutt-McNab lives nearby and her two children attend Sherwood Elementary. She said the whole reason her family moved to the neighbourhood was so her children could walk to school — but there have been close calls.
"I'm worried. My daughter had an incident yesterday and now she told me this morning she was scared to walk to school."
Changes already made to intersection
She's reached out to the area's city councillor, Bob Doiron, who's received several complaints from concerned parents and people who live nearby.
"I can't understand it. It's a four-way stop. We have many of them in the city," Doiron said.
Public works and the police committee are aware of the issue, and Doiron said the city made a number of attempts to make the crosswalk more visible to drivers, including having the stop signs replaced and the lines re-painted.
"We're trying our best to come up with a solution but it just doesn't seem to be good enough at this time," he said.
More changes planned
Charlottetown police said changes to signage at the intersection will be coming soon.
"It does create potential hazards for the children at the school, which is very high on our priority list to make sure everybody's safe, especially the children," said Sgt. Chris Watts.
The specifics are still being worked on but in the mean time Watts said police have stepped up patrol at all schools in the city during rush hour.
But Collicutt-McNab's family have decided to forego the walk to and from Sherwood Elementary and have been driving to school instead. She said she hopes that will only be temporary.
"You want them to like school. You want them to enjoy school and the first part of their day should be enjoyable and comfortable and relaxed, so it's a concern."
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