New earlier start times proposed for school speed zones in Kelowna

CHANGES WILL BE ADVERTISED SHOULD THEY BE APPROVED

KELOWNA – You had better be paying attention because there will be a test, sometime around the beginning of September.

That’s when the Central Okanagan school district would like to extend — by half an hour — the start of speed zones on the roads alongside local schools.

School trustees voted in June to ask Kelowna city council to begin the 30 kilometre per hour restricted speed zones at 7:30 a.m. instead of 8 a.m.

School programs often begin earlier than the current 8 a.m. start, notes trafic operations supervisor Fred Wollin in a report to Kelowna council.

The provincial government mandates school speed zones be in place from 8 to 5 p.m. but the recently amended the Motor Vehicle Act allows municipalities to extend those hours should they see fit.

Many school programs in the Central Okanagan school district now begin well before 8 a.m., the report notes.

If city councillors agree to the request, staff will begin changing the school speed zone signs on 27 schools in Kelowna for August 31 and plans are to advertise the change ahead of time, the report says. The change only applies to schools within Kelowna's boundary.

The report does not list the cost of changing the signs. The school district has provided the city with a list of 27 schools they feel require the sign change.

Council will consider the request at its regular public meeting at 1:30 p.m., Monday, July 11 at Kelowna City Hall.

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