St. Marys council approves three-way stop, other safety improvements at Holy Name of Mary School

A community safety zone and school zone on Egan Avenue are included in the planned improvements

St. Marys council has approved the establishment of a three-way stop at the intersection at Egan Avenue and King Street, adjacent to Holy Name of Mary School.

By Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

To improve safety for staff and students crossing Egan Avenue between Holy Name of Mary School and the school’s north field across the street, St. Marys council has approved the installation of a three-way stop at Egan Avenue and King Street North among other improvements.

At council’s Sept. 9 meeting, councillors approved several safety improvements along Egan Avenue, adjacent to Holy Name of Mary School, as agreed on by both town staff and the Huron Perth Catholic District School Board (HPCDSB). The decision came from a discussion between the town and the school over how best to handle issues the town was having in recruiting and retaining crossing guards for the Egan-King intersection to help students travel between the school and the north field at various times during the school day.

“We had a discussion with the school board regarding the cost and the physical options that we could do,” said town director of public works Jed Kelly. “They took it back, they had some meetings, they rolled it around. Ultimately, they’ve decided to internalize the wage; they were paying 100 per cent of the cost of these crossing-guard positions. … I assume (crossing-guard duties are) going toward yard supervision and that sort of thing. I see, kind of, more stewards out there now; patrollers with high-vis on.

“They have requested the town install a three-way intersection at the intersection of Egan and King. It would have a nominal impact to any on traffic flow.”

This three-way stop, Kelly explained, would establish a continuous stop-and-yield condition for north-south pedestrian crossings, enhancing safety throughout the day and outside normal school hours. As the town has agreements with the school board for use of the school’s north field outside of school hours, Kelly said the change would also improve safety for other users of the field, including minor sports.

In addition to the three-way stop, town staff also asked council to designate Egan Avenue as a community safety zone and school speed reduction zone.

“We would like to relocate the existing flashers that we have for our speed-reduction zones and put those inside the school safety zones … and implement a new school zone on Egan and add the flashers, and then add the flashers on James Street North just for that speed-reduction zone, community safety zone and school zone so the fines are tripled,” Kelly said.

According to the staff report to council, traffic-safety improvements were made in the area around the school based on recommendations made by a traffic-safety consultant hired by the town in 2018 as a part of the Egan Avenue residential development and the associated reconstruction of the street. Though the improvements were effective, crossing-guard staffing requirements and the associated administrative burden to facilitate student movement between the school and the north field remained an issue.

Prior to 2020, the school custodian would use their break periods and serve as a town crossing guard to cover all the crossing-guard shifts during school recess. They retired in 2019 and since then, the town has struggled to find staff willing to cover all recess periods throughout the day. Beyond the recess periods, the school’s north field is also used for Phys-ed, requiring additional staff for supervising the crossing of students during class periods.

Both the town and school are often pulling staff from other roles to provide crossing-guard coverage or supervised crossing throughout the day as absences or the need arises.