A Winnipeg business owner has offered to put in flashing amber lights at school zones around the city for free.
Chuck Lewis, owner of Expert Electric, said he’s approached the city before with the idea, but his plan was rejected in 2017.
With traffic safety and speed limits, especially around school zones, a hot topic in the city in recent weeks, some civic lawmakers are interested in taking Lewis up on his offer.
Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) told Global News he’s pushing for Lewis’s initiative to be adopted, and put forward a motion at his community committee Tuesday evening to see it move forward.
“This is a method of saying, look, there could be kids running in and out of cars here. There’s an opportunity for kids to cross the road,” said Klein.
“Why not put in that level of safety … especially since it’s a taxpayer coming forward and saying, ‘I care enough that I’ll pay for this’?”
“It doesn’t cost us anything, it’s not going to offend anybody. It’s the perfect thing to do. I hope it doesn’t get stalled by ‘Let’s do a study’, ‘oh, we’ve gotta talk to the traffic department, oh we’ve gotta talk to that department’ – next thing you know, it’s 2025 and they’re still not up.”
Lewis, who has offered to maintain the lights for the next ten years, said each installation would cost him between $5,000 – $10,000 per school zone.
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