Parents and guardians can expect seeing enforcement services hovering around school zones to be a regular part of the morning routine now that school is back in session. Sergeant Ross Gear with City Enforcement Services says he expects the reactivation of school zones to be jarring after being inactive for such an extended period.
“The children have been away for quite a while now I think it’s about five-and-a-half months now or thereabouts so that’s quite a bit of time off,” he says. “We’re going to be out there in full force and try to be very visible and remind people that school is back in, please slow down and watch for pedestrians.
Throughout September, the City of Grande Prairie Selected Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) will focus on Back to School Road Safety, and the Bylaw Enforcement Education Program (BEEP) will be directing their efforts to vehicles that are illegally parked or stopped in school zones.
Gear says despite the extended break from school zone rules being in effect, he has confidence with a little bit of patience, parents will generally get used to it again relatively quickly.
“I think all it’s going to take is a reminder, some people haven’t thought about school zones [for] a long time. We’re out there to give them that reminder saying ‘school is back in,'” says Gear.
“Citizens in Grande Prairie care a lot about their children and their children’s safety and for the most part, people are pretty good about slowing down.”
Parents will also have to be aware of the new policies schools have instated in regards to COVID-19 protocols for dropping their kids off.
Gear adds enforcement services will be visible rotating between schools throughout the year.