ATHABASCA – Athabascans are keeping their speed at a responsible level when they drive past Whispering Hills Primary School (WHPS), even when they aren’t legislatively required to do so.
Town of Athabasca community peace officer (CPO) Kevin Rowan presented town councillors with stats on local drivers speeds alongside his regular monthly update during the Oct. 15 council meeting, which showed motorists were taking the speed limit seriously near the elementary school.
From Aug. 26 to Oct. 10, the town’s two portable speed signs, which flash speeds at travellers as they go past, were positioned on the west side of Whispering Hills Dr. — heading towards the hospital — and at 47 Ave.
The Whispering Hills sign tracked the most roadsters (13,760) compared to 47 Avenue (1,433), and it while it had more violations, the average driver was going slower than the maximum speed limit when they passed the school.
On a road where the speed limit is 50 km/h outside the set times the school zone designation is active, drivers, routinely travel less than 35 km/h, with only 56 violations being recorded.
The busiest time of day near WHPS was between 8 and 9 a.m., when 1,298 vehicles passed the sign at an average speed of 32 km/h. The data Rowan presented doesn’t include information on time of week, which can skew the representation around school zones.
Despite the overall low speeds — drivers are going passed WHPS at a mid-30 average throughout the day — Rowan still wants to spend some time in the area to enforce the school zone hours, which do still see speeders.
“There’s definitely an issue with speeding during those times,” said Rowan. “I’ve been focusing my efforts there, and it’s looking like I better continue to do so.”
Animal control
Besides monitoring traffic, Rowan kept busy during the first month of the school year. A stop at WHPS gave kids an opportunity to see what the inside of a cruiser looked like while Rowan answered questions from parents.
“It gave kids the chance to crawl inside, have a look around and use the siren,” said Rowan. “I was pretty popular, and it was pretty loud.”
He also joined forces with the Alberta Sheriffs during the lunch hour to police active school zones and educate drivers.
On the bylaw side, Rowan dealt with 26 complaints, 10 of which related to the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw. The town received several complaints of cats and dogs running at large, and a couple animals were taken to SCARS for safe keeping. Rowan also dealt with an alleged case regarding a mistreated pet, and performed an in-depth investigation onto the file.
Three properties were found to be in violation of the Nuisance, Untidy, and Unsightly Premises Bylaw after compliance orders had been issued, and three occurrences were filed under the Petty Trespass Act. Rowan dealt with numerous homeless encampments which were dismantled, and has been patrolling to deter new encampments from being built.
Rowan wrote 26 tickets, 12 bylaw charges and a single formal warning during September. According to his report, the fastest speed was 35 km/h over the posted limit on University Drive, and 30 km/h over the posted limit on 50 Avenue near 43 Street going up the hill.
