Parents giving a thumbs up to new slower school zones

Parents and grandparents walking kids to the first day of school Tuesday morning at Judge Bryant Elementary School gave a resoundingly positive report card for Regina’s new lower school zone speed.

Judge Bryant sits on Dewdney Avenue, one of the major arteries in east Regina, so there can be a lot of traffic there in the morning and afternoons.

“It’s better,” one man said about the new 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limit. “Everyone else does it already so it’s about time we followed suit.”

“People have a chance to slow down, make sure there’s no kids in the way and everybody’s safer,” said another woman.

In the spring, Regina’s city council decided to lower the speed limit in school zones from 40 kilometres per hour to 30. At a media conference last week, Faisal Kalim with the City of Regina said it’s all about safety for the people involved.

“It takes 30 seconds extra out of my day,” said one man, explaining why, even as a driver, he doesn’t mind the speed limit change.

In some cases, the school zones are shorter than they were and they’re in effect for less of the day — now from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., instead of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., as they were previously.