Charlottetown schools looking to curb traffic issues after increased enrolment

The streets surroundingBirchwoodIntermediate School in an older downtown Charlottetown neighbourhood are often clogged with traffic as students come and go.

"It's packed every morning and every afternoon, but especially in the afternoon," said parent TraceyWahler.

"It's actually dangerous for the kids walking back and forth."

The school board saida major factorthat added to the number of vehicles in the area is the number of students enrolled.

The school now has471 students an increase of200 this year following last year's rezoning and redistributionof students in various schools around the province.

Prepared for the influx

"We knew it would be an issue and we took action last summer to get ready," said John Cummings, director of corporate services for the Public Schools Branch.

The school expanded its parking lot by 10 spaces last summer to get ready for the influx of students. New signs and painted road lines were added to try to avoid traffic snarls.Parents were briefed on best practices for drop-off and pick-up.

"It's true, there are growing pains," Cummings said. "We continue to work to try to tweak our system to make it as functional as we possibly can make it."

Officialshave also staggered the arrival times of schools buses.

Safety is a top priority

The board isalso talking to city police about crosswalks at all schoolsand how to improve them.

"We continue to work with Birchwood and all our schools to try and make our schools as safe as possible," Cummings said.

"We're always looking at how things can be improved."

West Kent Elementaryis also dealing with similar traffic issues. Parents have formed a school safety committee and areworking with the city to addresstraffic and other safety issues. The committeemet for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

School officials saidthey will do what they can to ease traffic congestion at all schools.

Working with Island schools

"The first point of contact would be the school," Cummings said. "They do a good job of working with students on a day-to-day basisand dealing with traffic in the area."

Traffic is part of life in a busy city, but if anyone knows how to ease the crunch every morning and afternoon at Birchwood, school officials saidthey're willing to listen.

The Public Schools Branch hasnot had any direct complaints about trafficfollowing the arrival of all the new students, Cummings said.

Parentspicking up their childrenare keenly of aware of the traffic situation.

"Idon'tthink there is an easy solution because of the way it is positioned,"Wahlersaid."It's downtown. It's narrow streets and there is too much traffic and too much congestion."

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