"Why did the Lakewood students jaywalk across the road? To get to school."
That's the joke that ends a letter currently before Langford's Transportation and Public Works Committee.
On the morning of May 6, students of Lakewood Elementary watched 86 people jaywalk across Setchfield Avenue to get to school, the letter states.
"At the moment, students that are driven to school only have a few options for where to get dropped off at the front of the school. There is a drive-through drop off, a 12-space parking lot and curb parking along Setchfield," says the letter.
According to the staff report considered by the committee Tuesday (June 9), vehicles tend to park on both sides of Setchfield Avenue, including in the improved parking areas on the opposite side of the school as well as in the bike lanes on the same side as the school," which creates traffic congestion and possible safety issues.
The report states that staff have been receiving phone calls and correspondence from parents of Lakewood school children requesting a crosswalk over "the past few years," and recommends a crosswalk be installed at the north end of the bus turnaround by the sports fields at a cost of $1,500, which would come from the Neighbourhood Improvement Budget.
That end of the school is the one used by the youngest of the students, the report states.
If the crosswalk is approved by the committee, it would then go before council for final approval and installed over the summer.
From a school district perspective, superintendent Jim Cambridge says they are always encouraging municipalities to increase safety for students and parents wherever possible, but other than that encouragement, they don't have much say in infrastructure projects. He hopes, however, that a crosswalk, if approved by Langford, will help somewhat with the congestion and safety situation at Lakewood.