Gordon Greenwood Elementary and Langley Fundamental Middle/High school should go to the top of the list for traffic calming measures designed to slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety, a report by the Township engineering division recommends.
The memo to council says there are currently 96 Township neighbourhoods asking for traffic calming.
It says the schools are the “top two priority locations identified [by engineering] for 2015.”
Gordon Greenwood at 9175 206 St. has just over 400 students attending K to 7, while Langley Fundamental Middle/High school at 21250 42 Ave. has over 700 students from Grades 6 to 12.
Township regulations require a vote of area residents with a minimum of 67 per cent in favour before work is carried out.
If the vote falls below that threshold, Township staff automatically move on to the next highest priority location.
However, an exception was made in the case of Aldergrove Community Secondary School, because the vote was so close to the minimum that Township council decided to go ahead anyway.
The mail-in vote in November had 65.6 per cent of the residents who responded supporting steps to slow drivers down on 29 Avenue fronting the 700-student school.
Council decided the work on 29 Avenue would proceed after Mayor Jack Froese suggested it should make an exception to the rule in the name of student safety, calling it “a larger community good that council needs to address.”
Councillor Charlie Fox, who was principal of the school for about six years, made the proposal, which passed on a 6-3 vote.
Speed humps, curb extensions and raised crosswalks were installed while the road accesses to the school were realigned.
Traffic calming work was in progress at the Langley Fundamental elementary school site in December, including three speed humps, sidewalk improvements and a raised crosswalk.
A vote on proposed traffic calming measures for 44 Avenue fronting Alice Brown School wrapped up in December.
And a vote is planned early in 2015 on a proposed traffic calming project along 62A Crescent from 64 Avenue to 60 Avenue, and a second proposal for 208A Street between 70 and 72 Avenues.