KVR Middle School and Penticton Secondary is located in front of Jermyn Avenue, Penticton. Jermyn Avenue is also located between two major collectors (Main Street and Government Street). Due to this, a lot of vehicular traffic utilizes this road to short cut through the residential neighbourhood. As a result, we see increased traffic speeds where vulnerable-age school students are going to and from school. We've received multiple complaints from the public and school board regarding the potential for a serious accident to occur under the current configuration. This makes Jermyn Avenue a prime candidate to receive a traffic calming treatment (curb extensions with raised crosswalks) to reduce vehicular speeds. The goal is to provide increased safety for all modes of transportation.

As prescribed in the City of Penticton’s Official Community Plan, City staff have been given direction to prioritize active modes of transportation (like walking and cycling) and transit, which offer significant social, environmental, economic and health benefits. The goal is to provide for ease of mobility regardless of how you choose or are able to get around, where you live, your income or your age. To aid in this, we’ve begun shifting our mindset of designing roads first and foremost for single-use vehicles. Priority is given to active modes of transportation and how we go about implementing infrastructure that provides accessibility and safety for those user groups. Many times, this results in a need to reduce vehicular speeds to lower the frequency and severity of accidents. In this particular case, we have a vulnerable user group in the form of students travelling to and from school each day, many of which utilize active modes of transportation. By reducing speeds via traffic calming we also discourage the use of this road as a short cut through a residential neighbourhood, thus reducing traffic volumes as well. This additional funding provided by the Vision Zero Program will allow us to implement a solution that will make our community safer as well as promote a more sustainable lifestyle.

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