When the Province of Manitoba introduced legislation that allowed cities to implement a 30km/h zone near schools, the City of Portage la Prairie enacted the reduced speed zones for all the roads adjacent to schools, except for Highway 1A (Saskatchewan Ave). Even though that road passes both a High-School and an Elementary School, a reduced speed zone on that major route was not implemented. For similar (or better) reasons, it is completely unnecessary to have a reduced speed zone on Provincial Highway 240 at Arthur Meighen School.

This section of road is separated from pedestrian traffic by a large ditch, and a tall fence running the entire length of the school property. Across the road, there are only 3 residential properties on either side of the Co-op Gas Bar & no reason for children to be crossing back & forth across the road. Parents that drop off their children for school do so in the designated area inside school property and there is no place for them to stop on the side of the road to drop off or pick up students.

As a matter of fact, the only access to the road from the school in the 30km/h zone is a well-marked pedestrian crossing at the South end of the school fence, and the bus lane at the North end of the fence. Beyond that the ditches and highway median completely eliminate any possibility of road incursions by a student. Accidental or spontaneous road crossings in this zone are virtually impossible. All student traffic that needs to cross to the East side of the road does so at the Crescent Road East intersection... where there are traffic lights, and ironically - it is a 50km/h zone.
EVERYONE thinks this slow zone is ridiculous after school hours, but did you know that at all elementary schools, including this one, it is against the rules for a student to leave the school property during school hours. And to top it off, while playing outside at recess or on their way home, these students are protected from traffic by a FENCE AND A DITCH! So now this zone is ridiculous during school hours as well!

Every hour of every day of the year, this reduced speed zone is an incredible inconvenience to all traffic that enters the City of Portage la Prairie from the only South entrance to the city. It needlessly irritates the entire group of people that either live or work south of the City. It also makes it so that there is no way for anyone living in the Koko Platz or Mellenville areas to choose an alternate route and avoid the reduced speed zones when they need to access any part of the City of Portage.

Many drivers find that the slow pace of traffic through that area - with no apparent safety hazard from school children - causes them to become mentally bored and distracted from the task of driving. This means that although the slower speed zone causes tighter traffic congestion, drivers are taking their focus off the road and looking elsewhere (usually to the activity at the Co-op gas bar) and in reality, the reduced speed zone has created an increased level of danger and congestion on that section of road.

There are examples of other cities that have removed the 30km/h zone after a high volume of complaints by local residents. In Winnipeg, a Tuxedo area school had its 30km/h zone removed in October of 2015. Read about it here: http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/speed-limit-in-school-zone-back-up-to-50-km-h-following-flood-of-complaints-1.2604439

Of course there are areas where a reduced speed school zone makes sense, but this location is not one of them. The reduced speed zone on Highway 240 by Arthur Meighen School should be removed and the speed limit put back to 50km/h.

Link to this petition and access it at www.ImprovePortage.com