Calgary council votes to extend hours of school and playground zones

CALGARY- City council has voted in favour of extending school and playground zone hours.

Currently, school zones in Calgary are in effect from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and playground zones run from 8:30 a.m. until one hour after sunset.

However, proposed changes would have them both start at 7:30 a.m., and continue until 9 p.m. in both zones.

On Tuesday afternoon, council agreed to go ahead with the plan. School zone speed limits will now only apply during school days, though principals can designate their school as a playground.

“Compliance is always an issue,” says Tony Churchill from City of Calgary traffic safety. “But I think a greater issue is that because of the variability in different times, some drivers may not know if it is in effect or not.”

The change will affect 15 hundred playground zones and 180 school zones, and goes into effect in September.

It will cost the city $150,000 to print decals to put on signs to reflect the change. They will have to replace all the signs next year, at a cost of over half a million dollars.