Parents worry intersection near École Sage Creek School unsafe for kids

Parents in Sage Creek say an uncontrolled intersection just north of an elementary school is unsafe for kids walking to and from school — and now, the City of Winnipeg says it wants to look at possible solutions.

"I have yanked my kids back a number of times to not get hit by a car," says Jen Shapka, mother of two daughters who attend École Sage Creek School.

She and other parents say the Prairie Smoke Drive and Wild Iris Walk intersection is chaotic during both pick-up and drop-off times.

"There are kids streaming out of there. There's no parking enforcement that I've ever seen. So people are being Looney Tunes with where they're parking and letting their kids out," said Shapka.

Students at the overcrowded early learning to Grade 8 school have to navigate the three-way "T" intersection, controlled by a single stop sign, in order to exit and enter school property to the north.

There are no sidewalks and no crosswalks, unlike the school entrance to the south. 

After a snowstorm, the intersection becomes an "absolute disaster", said Shapka.

"[This winter] I was so afraid someone was going to get hit by a car."

'I saw their point,' says councillor 

On Tuesday, the City of Winnipeg's public works committee voted unanimously to ask the public service to review potential traffic-calming measures at the intersection.

Shapka, who lives north of the school, originally reached out to the École Sage Creek School Parent Advisory Council. That group invited Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) to see the intersection during peak commute times.

"I saw their point," Mayes told CBC by phone prior to the committee's vote. "There's a huge number of kids coming out at the same time.… That appears not to have been planned for."

École Sage Creek School was built in 2017. While the south-end of the school has a crosswalk, the north end of the school doesn't appear to adequately take into account traffic streaming down from new developments to the north of the school, said Mayes. 

He wants to see the intersection become a three-way stop, and wants the city to paint lines on the road along with adding warning signs for drivers.

"[We've] got to see what we can do to improve the safety," Mayes said.

The civil service will report back in 180 days on possible changes at the intersection. Data collected before the end of the school year will form their recommendation. 

For Shapka, the recent deaths of two children in Winnipeg make the concerns all the more pressing.

"I just feel like, what is it going to take before somebody does something?"

Parents in Sage Creek say uncontrolled intersection near school is unsafe

6 years ago

Duration 2:12

Students have to navigate the three-way "T" intersection, controlled by a single stop sign, in order to exit and enter school property.