Report advises city to accept private donor’s gift of school-zone lights

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This article was published 10/09/2020 (1568 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg could soon accept a gift of flashing amber lights that better alert drivers to the reduced speed in school zones — but it could take decades to get the lights in place.

The deal could eventually lead the city to add more lights at its own cost, according to a new report by the public service.

The report recommends the city accept as many as 480 solar-powered beacons through a donation from Expert Electric, which would provide two of the devices per school.

The company’s owner, Chuck Lewis, has been offering to donate the lights to the city since at least 2017. He says he’s willing to continue that effort for as long as it takes, since he believes it will make school zones safer.

“If… it saves one life, then that was worth that fight,” said Lewis.

He has described the beacons as more eye-catching than traditional signs, which should help ensure more drivers slow down to 30 km/h in school zones. That speed limit is in effect from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, from Sept. 1 to June 30.

Expert Electric would also handle repair and warranty issues for at least five years.

An outline of the agreement noted most of the installations would depend on the success of the first set of lights over a three-month trial period, noting the rest could be cancelled if problems emerged. But the city later clarified that it expects testing done prior to this agreement will be sufficient for Winnipeg officials to commit to the full project, if council approves it.

“Given that testing of the beacons has already occurred, if approved, the city will likely work with the donor to move directly into implementation,” wrote city spokesman Ken Allen, in an emailed statement.

Meanwhile, the city says some schools will need more than the two donated beacons to cover adjacent school-zone roads. The city report predicts Winnipeg would eventually spend about $1.4 million to add 391 units for those areas, if the deal is approved.

“In order to ensure consistency, (it) is anticipated that the city would make up any shortfall of beacons,” wrote Allen.

For at least the first five years of installation, however, the city says only the donated lights would be installed.

The proposed agreement calls for the donor to install the lights “as soon as is practicably possible”, with a minimum rate of two per month. That minimum rate would mean the entire installation would take 20 years.

Lewis said that lengthy timeline may be needed for him to keep the project affordable, since each set of two lights will cost him about $7,000. He said the process could be sped up if others also donated to the effort.

Allen noted the long timeline does mean that “in the future, there may be reasons for either party to revisit the agreement.”

The property and development committee is set to cast the first vote on the deal on Sept. 17.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy, the committee chairperson, said she expects to support the proposal.

“We should be looking at how we deal with some of the congestion around our schools,” said Gilroy (Daniel McIntyre).

The councillor said she believes the future cost to the city is worth consideration.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga