School and playgrounds zones are now in line with school hours in Blackfalds.
Blackfalds town council recently amended its traffic bylaw to extend the hours for school and playground zones because the hours did not reflect the time when students arrived and left school.
Under the previous bylaw, the school zone hours were in one-and-a-half to two-hour blocks starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m. Schools in Blackfalds start at 8 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.
With the change, school zones are now a continuous zone from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on school days. The playground zone starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends one hour after sunset. Preston Weran, Blackfalds’ director of infrastructure and property services said, motorists are reminded to slow down to 30 km/h during the appropriate times.
The town’s public works crews are replacing the old signs with new ones with the times posted on them. This will help limit the confusion about the hours and define the effective hours.
The signs are expected to be replaced by mid-May but the change is now in effect.