School Zones Back In Effect Starting September 1st, 2017
As a new school year is set to get underway, the City of Saskatoon and Saskatoon Police Service are advising residents that school zones are in effect beginning September 1st, 2017. Drivers are once again required to reduce their speed to 30 kph inside school zones between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.
This fall, four new school zones will be in effect in the following areas:
- Stonebridge: Chief Whitecap School & St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic School
- Hampton Village: Ernest Lindner School & St. Lorenzo Ruiz Catholic School
- Evergreen: Sylvia Fedoruk School & St. Nicholas Catholic School
- Rosewood: Colette Bourgonje & St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic School
“We’ve installed one continuous school zone in front of the adjacent public and separate schools in these neighbourhoods to provide a safe path for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers,” says Dave LeBoutillier, Acting Engineering Manager for Transportation. “All it takes to reduce your speed in a school zone is an additional 12 seconds of travel time; something we can all make time to do.”
School zones are marked by reflective, fluorescent yellow-green signs. It is an offence to speed in school zones as well as to make a u-turn, which has been restricted in Saskatoon since 2013. Offenders are subject to fines and the loss of three or more SGI demerit points.
“When drivers fail to comply with speed limits in school zones, they’re not only committing a speed violation, they are increasing the danger to students, parents, teachers and citizens using those school zones,” says Superintendent Brian Shalovelo of the Saskatoon Police Service. “We’ll be actively enforcing school zones from now through to June.”
In addition to physical police presence in school zones, Photo Speed Enforcement is also active in several school zones around the city. This program captures an image and licence plate information for vehicles violating the 30 kph speed restriction, and a fine is then mailed to the registered owner of that vehicle.
Learn more about school zones by visiting Saskatoon.ca/SchoolZones.