Parents say a proposed regional road project near Moffat Creek Public School in Cambridge will cause even more congestion in the area, raising student safety concerns.
They say it’s a lack of parking around the school that’s putting children at risk: when they pull over to drop them off, the kids have to navigate a busy road.
“There’s about 100 cars that need to drop off or pick up their children. It’s very busy, there’s no spots to actually let out your children,” says Jeana Quesnel, whose child attends the school.
Dozens of cars were parked outside on Wednesday morning to help their young ones get to class safely.
Quesnel says she fears it’s about to get worse as the region wants to install curbs along Myers Road from Water Street to Branchton Road, meaning it won’t be possible to pull over there.
She says that the city won’t provide a crossing guard or a crossing sign because the road is not a built road yet.
“Maintaining the two-lane cross section, so one lane each way, adding a curb and gutter which isn’t there right now,” explains Senior Project Manager Skylar Van Kruistum.
The Waterloo Region District School Board says it’s been working closely with the region and the school, and stands by the concept.
“We are supportive of the region’s preferred design concept that includes a pedestrian refuge island and walkway connecting California Road to Myers Road in front of the school,” the board says in part in a statement.
It goes on to say that it hopes the project will offset traffic and provide infrastructure to encourage kids to walk to school.
Parents say this is a dangerous situation and worry it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.
“They’re suggesting that we park five minutes away from the school and walk our kids the rest of the way, which is just not realistic,” says Quesnel. “Some parents have five children, some parents have babies, that’s not realistic.”
Regional staff is hosting a public consultation Wednesday night on the Myers Road reconstruction. If it goes ahead, construction would start next spring.
