The New Westminster school district has taken its first step towards alleviating the traffic problems around Queensborough schools.
To help clear some of the congestion away from Queen Elizabeth Elementary, the school district will rent 11 parking spaces from nearby Roma Hall. Those spots will be available to parents for pick-up and drop-off. The move is a short term solution and will cost the district about $600 a month, according to secretary-treasurer Kim Morris.
It’s expected that parents will be able to use the spots at Roma Hall within the week, Morris noted.
But, beyond the next couple of months, Morris said staff will need direction from trustees about long-term solutions.
Morris presented the board with two possible options to ease the troubles along Salter Street. They’ve been in development since November, when trustee Mary Lalji urged fellow trustees to address what she called dangerous traffic problems in front of Queen Elizabeth and Queensborough Middle schools.
The first solution would cost an estimated $120,000 and would see the number of fixed parking stalls at the elementary school drop from 49 to 43 and the number of drop-off stalls increase from five to 14, according to Morris.
The second solution would increase the number of parking stalls from 54 to 65, including 40 fixed stalls and 25 drop-off stalls, and would cost an estimated $170,000.
But trustees weren’t prepared to make a decision this week.
“My concern is that I’m not quite convinced yet that that’s the right approach. I think the board should perhaps consider shifting from what seems like a pro-traffic approach to a traffic-calming and pedestrian-safety approach,” Trustee Gurveen Dhaliwal said.
Other trustees agreed.
The board decided to postpone a decision until February, when staff is expected to present more information on the proposed solutions.
