Protect Our Children — Make Cambridge School Zones Safer

To the City of Cambridge Mayor and Council and Transportation staff:

On September 15, 2026, a vehicle crashed into the field at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Cambridge, striking a fence and a tree.

I am a parent living in this community, and my own child will be attending St. Joseph.

Seeing something like this happen so close to home is terrifying.

The circumstances surrounding today’s collision are still being determined, and I do not want to speculate about anything that has not yet been officially confirmed.

But one fact is impossible for me to ignore:

A vehicle ended up crashing into the field of a school where children play, learn and spend their days.

Someone’s child could have been seriously injured or killed.

I don’t want our community to wait until that happens before we take school-zone safety seriously.

That is why I am starting this petition.

What I am asking for

I am asking the City of Cambridge to review school zones throughout Cambridge — beginning with St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School and other schools in the Preston area — for stronger physical traffic-calming measures.

Where appropriate based on traffic and safety assessments, I am asking the City to consider measures such as:

Speed cushions or speed humps
Raised pedestrian crossings
Curb extensions
Additional physical traffic-calming measures
Improved pedestrian crossings and visibility
Additional measures around roads commonly used by children walking to and from school
I am also asking the City to listen directly to parents, residents, school staff and crossing guards when identifying problem areas.

Why this matters

Children should not have to rely solely on every driver choosing to slow down.

When our roads are designed around schools, we need to consider infrastructure that physically encourages safer speeds and greater awareness.

The City of Cambridge already uses physical traffic-calming measures, and I am asking that school zones and school routes — particularly in Preston — receive serious attention.

Today’s incident at St. Joseph has made this issue incredibly personal for me.

My child will be attending this school.

Other parents send their children there every morning.

Children use that school field.

Today, a vehicle left the roadway, went into that field, hit a fence and struck a tree.

What if children had been standing in that area?

I do not want any Cambridge parent to receive the phone call that every parent fears.

We are asking Cambridge to act proactively

We are asking the City of Cambridge to:

Conduct a traffic and speed assessment around St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School and surrounding streets.
Review other school zones and school walking routes throughout Preston for similar concerns.
Identify locations where physical traffic-calming measures could improve safety.
Create a clear process for parents and residents to report school-zone speeding and traffic concerns.
Tell the community what improvements are recommended, which locations will receive them and when approved work will be completed.
Continue reviewing school zones throughout Cambridge so that dangerous locations can be addressed proactively.
This isn’t about inconveniencing drivers.

It is about making the few minutes that children spend walking, biking, crossing the road or playing near school grounds as safe as we reasonably can.

We should not have to wait for a child to be seriously injured or killed before making changes.

If you are a parent, grandparent, teacher, school employee, crossing guard, neighbour or Cambridge resident who wants safer school zones, please sign this petition.

Please also share it with other Cambridge families.

Our children’s safety is worth protecting.