A city councillor has asked city officials to revisit potential changes to playground zones in Edmonton.
Tim Cartmell, councillor for Ward 9, put forward a motion to remove 26 playground zones near areas where there is no playground equipment.
The motion also included changing playground zone locations to apply where equipment is present, and to only include locations where an elementary or junior high school is present.
Cartmell said he’d also like the city to change the hours, to make playground zones end earlier in the winter (7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and later in the summer (7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.).
In September, 2017 the city changed all school zones to playground zones, meaning drivers had to reduce their speeds to 30 km/h between 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
“Most of the feedback I’ve received has been generally supportive of speed reduction zones, where and when children congregate,” Cartmell said. “The criticisms I have received are about implementation.
“When drivers see a speed reduction sign and start looking for the photo radar truck instead of children, we have failed.”
Council directed the city to gather data on activity in playground zones at different times of year.
With files from Nicole Weisberg
