Hamilton school board supports call to make ‘unfriendly’ Wilson Street safer for kids
Kids - masked, dressed in colourful snowsuits, hand sanitizer hanging from their backpacks - rush toward Dr. J.E. Davey Elementary School as the morning bell signals the start of the day.
The central Hamilton school shares a two-way stretch of Wilson Street with industrial trucks - hundreds a day, according to one count.
They're not delivering, they're just cutting through neighbourhoods," said Environment Hamilton project manager Beatrice Ekoko, who is calling on the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to support initiatives to make the area safer.
In a letter to trustees, Ekoko said that Wilson's eastbound lane is a heavily used, full-time industrial truck route" - used by drivers to save time and fuel - that jeopardizes student health and safety.
It just feels like an overlooked situation," she said.
In August 2020, Friendly Streets, a joint project between Environment Hamilton and Cycle Hamilton, counted more than 400 industrial trucks in two locations around the school - one on Wilson and one on Cannon Street East - in a 12-hour period. Grain, flatbed, 18-wheeler and tanker trucks were included in the count. Not included were trucks making local deliveries, such as to grocery stores and gas stations.
If you stand there and you look you'll see that the westbound lane is really underutilized because traffic uses Cannon or King to go west," she said, adding that Wilson is a perfect candidate for a road diet," a planning technique used to reduce traffic or provide space for other modes of travel.
Ekoko wrote in the letter that unfriendly" Wilson Street has very few street safety designs" in place for Dr. Davey students, about 70 per cent of whom walk to school, according to a 2018 public health study.
There is no signalized pedestrian crosswalk, and sidewalks in the school zone are narrow and uneven, she said.
At a Feb. 22 meeting, the public school board voted unanimously - with Ward 6 trustee Kathy Archer and Ward 5 trustee Carole Paikin-Miller absent for the vote - to refer the issue to the city/school board liaison committee and to pen a letter to the city and police outlining the dangers of the students walking to and from school ... as well as the impact of the noise and the fumes," said Ward 1 and 2 trustee Christine Bingham, who put forward the motion.
It's extremely dangerous with the amount of trucks that are going past there," she said.
The safety issue posed by traffic around the elementary school is very concerning" to area residents, said Ward 3 trustee Maria Felix Miller, who seconded the motion.
Industrial traffic through and around our school is a very serious and important issue," she said. Our children and their families have the right to go to school in a way that is safe and active, and that promotes a healthy lifestyle."
The city is currently reviewing its truck route master plan, a study undertaken every 10 years to balance the needs of the goods and movement industry and manage the negative effects on the community," manager of transportation Steve Molloy said in an email to The Spectator.
Molloy said the city is evaluating many options to minimize the impact of industrial trucks on sensitive land uses," which include schools, seniors' residences and hospitals.
Staff plan to present alternative network solutions" at a second public information session. The first was held virtually in September of last year.
Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter covering education at The Spectator. Her work is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com