Speed reduction not necessary for new skatepark: City of Lethbridge

New skate park, new location at a fast paced Lethbridge intersection: Mayor Magrath Dr. S and Parkside Dr. S.

Construction for the project is finally underway, but many are worried the park’s presence won’t be enough to slow driver’s down.

“I just think people need to know that they need to be a bit safer and more cautious driving through there,” said Ian Gauthier, member of Lethbridge Skateboard Association.

A request for a traffic assessment was put in to the City of Lethbridge, asking if the area should be considered a playground zone. Meaning speed limits of 30 km/h on both Parkside Dr. and Mayor Magrath Dr.

“There was concerns that a skateboard park might need a speed reduction on both zones,” said Transportation Manager Darwin Juell. “Normally anytime a playground zone goes in we do a warrant calculation by the established standards and we determined a playground zone is not needed.”

The city says while enforcing playground area speeds around the skate park is not necessary it is concerned for pedestrian safety, and city officials have recommended precautionary features be added.

“In the development application we asked for a fence to be put in, a post and cable fence, just for safety on Parkside Drive, and on Mayor Magrath is dense landscaping so that people can’t shoot off the playground or skateboard park and go into the street,” said Juell.

Both the City and the LSA hope these features will be enough to keep those using the park safe.

“We definitely hope there won’t be any incidents but if it does come down to that then I think there would be something we’d have to look into but just in the meantime we have to be safe and know there’s going to be a lot more kids in that area,” added Gauthier.

If strategic landscaping and fencing isn’t working, city officials say they will revisit the idea of a speed reduction.