Students having trouble navigating roundabout in south Kitchener

The roundabout is not all that new, but a school in the area is.

It seems motorists going through the roundabout at Fisher-Hallman Road and Seabrook Drive still need to get used to students crossing there.

Janet Metcalfe Public School, at 335 Seabrook Dr., just opened a few weeks ago.

Kelly Galloway-Sealock is the city councillor for that area and says she definitely has some concerns.

“What I'm understanding is the students are doing everything right. They've learned, they've been educated … it's the drivers that now need to learn that there is pedestrians there.” Galloway-Sealock told The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS.

The Ward 5 councillor has a motion going before council on Monday.

It calls for a crossing guard to be placed at the roundabout, installing school zone crossing signs, as well as cutting back some of the vegetation near the roundabout.

Galloway-Sealock says they would need to work in conjunction with the region as it is a regional road.

“It's 60 kilometres an hour, whereas every other roundabout, for the most part, where there is a school is 50 kilometres an hour. I think this one just presents different challenges … while we are hearing things about other roundabouts … there isn't the volume of traffic that we have on Fisher-Hallman Road, and it's a busy, busy area. So I think we definitely need to look a measures to make sure that the students are safe.” added Galloway-Sealock.

Knowing that students would be crossing there for the first time this year, the Waterloo Region District School Board went over roundabout safety with 140 grade six students back in the spring.

A board spokesperson says they are continuing to monitor the situation on what possible improvements can be made.

“We join the parents who are concerned in echoing their statement around drivers, and wanting to remind drivers to drive slowly, stop for pedestrians, and make sure that our students are arriving at school safely.” said Alana Russell.