City votes to change school, playground zone hours

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I'm fine with standardizing playground and school zones, as most schools also have playgrounds and fields anyway. One standard "zone" is fine by me. A variable ending time would much better for our latitude, however.

Slowing from 50 to 30 for a block isn't going to cost me more than a few seconds in my day, so that part doesn't even bother me. I just don't think that there is any need to extend it to 9pm in the middle of the winter when the sun goes down at 4:30. I'd like to think that if you're old enough to be out playing at 9pm - 4.5 hours after winter sunset - then you're also old enough to have some safety skills of your own.

Where you cause issues is making the limit 30kph on roads like Elbow after 5PM. The school zone south of Heritage is a good example of this, with the new rules it will be a huge choke point.

Either way, it's well known that there is practically zero enforcement of school/playground zones anyways. Your chances of getting a ticket that results in demerits or even sticks are close to nil.

[TorqueDog]

Stupid stupid stupid. There is no reason a school zone should be such until 9 PM (nor a playground zone for that matter).

30 KM/H? Unnecessary, but I could tolerate it if we didn't put playground zones pretty well anywhere (Elbow Drive is the worst example).

[PsYcNeT]

The best reason to go slow in a playground zone is to avoid a ticket.

[Knut]

Price tag is big too

School and playground zone speed limits will now be in effect from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
City council voted in favour of the change Monday and crews will now begin putting new decals on signs, with the work expected to be done by Sept. 1, at a cost of $157,000.
Phase 2 will see crews change school zone signs to playground zone signs — at the behest of schools — a project budgeted to cost $545,000.

http://m.calgarysun.com/2014/07/22/c...times-extended

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

Where you cause issues is making the limit 30kph on roads like Elbow after 5PM. The school zone south of Heritage is a good example of this, with the new rules it will be a huge choke point.

Either way, it's well known that there is practically zero enforcement of school/playground zones anyways. Your chances of getting a ticket that results in demerits or even sticks are close to nil.

Uggh heading south on Elbow after 5:00 is gonna be even more of a ####show now.

[TSXCman]

So many tickets.....

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

The best reason to go slow in a playground zone is to avoid a ticket.

ya... what other reason would there be? I drive thru a few playground and school zones to work everyday, I've never seen a child there past 3:30

[GGG]

They are spending 600k on signage. This could provide traffic calming that actually reduces traffic speed at two locations. Signage does very little to reduce speed.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

He couldn't even figure out what population density was today on twitter.

Wow that's brutal.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by llwhiteoutll

Where you cause issues is making the limit 30kph on roads like Elbow after 5PM. The school zone south of Heritage is a good example of this, with the new rules it will be a huge CPS honey pot.

fyp

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I'm fine with standardizing playground and school zones, as most schools also have playgrounds and fields anyway. One standard "zone" is fine by me. A variable ending time would much better for our latitude, however.

Slowing from 50 to 30 for a block isn't going to cost me more than a few seconds in my day, so that part doesn't even bother me. I just don't think that there is any need to extend it to 9pm in the middle of the winter when the sun goes down at 4:30. I'd like to think that if you're old enough to be out playing at 9pm - 4.5 hours after winter sunset - then you're also old enough to have some safety skills of your own.

My kids will often hang out and play at the park during the winter after 4:30.

I have no problem with this. In the winter roads are often poor, people often have dirty windshields and head lights.

[Locke]

They have to make up the deficit in the Police budget somehow.

[pgsieve]

No problem with this as well. I never understood why we differentiate between playground and school zones. Most schools have playgrounds and most kids are still around the majority of these playgrounds well after 5. I wouldn't be opposed to 24/7 in places where kids are frequent.

[ben voyonsdonc]

I'm pretty sure that if a school has a playground that it will have a school zone next to the school and a playground zone next to the playground.

[RyZ]

Originally Posted by Hesla

Price tag is big too



http://m.calgarysun.com/2014/07/22/c...times-extended

That's a joke. I part own/operate a large run label/decal manufacturing business and I could produce 50000 of these decals for under $5000. Unless they are paying guys $200/hr to put these up on the signs I don't see how it costs anywhere near $157000 to put these decals up.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

I'm pretty sure that if a school has a playground that it will have a school zone next to the school and a playground zone next to the playground.

The change to 1 zone makes sense, given every school has a playground that is used as a park. The 9pm even in winter thing does not. Should have just made it 7:30 to 2hr after dusk.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by GGG

They are spending 600k on signage. This could provide traffic calming that actually reduces traffic speed at two locations. Signage does very little to reduce speed.

Traffic calming = speed bumps on roadways, making them permanent fixtures.

There is no good reason to have speedbumps on roadways especially in cases like Centre Street.

Not a fan of these changes.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

My kids will often hang out and play at the park during the winter after 4:30.



I have no problem with this. In the winter roads are often poor, people often have dirty windshields and head lights.

Of course kids will be outside at 4:30. I was suggesting that 9:00 is a tad late in the winter.

Personally, I'm not bothered either way. Standardizing the zones is the important part.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Ducay

The change to 1 zone makes sense, given every school has a playground that is used as a park. The 9pm even in winter thing does not. Should have just made it 7:30 to 2hr after dusk.

Kids are out at parks in the winter after 7:30pm, why do think they aren't?

[Huntingwhale]

Thoughts and prayers go out to those that will have to take an extra 10-15 seconds to get to their destination.