To make drop-off and pick-up safe for our children, we’d like to ask everyone who uses the cul-de-sac east of the staff parking lot (11 Street SW), to treat this cul-de-sac as a one-way during peak drop-off and pickup times.
If you’re planning to drop off or pick up your kids near the playground, please enter the cul-de-sac via 10 Street SW through the back alley that runs parallel to the large field, and then exit only through the cul-de-sac.
Just to be clear: this one-direction of traffic flow is not a City of Calgary legal requirement. Instead it is a non-enforceable courtesy or convention that William Reid School families have been following for over two decades.
The cul-de-sac is too tight for a high volume of traffic if parents and nannies are trying to turn around their cars. It makes it easier and safer for everyone if the cul-de-sac on 11th Street is used only for exiting cars.
Please pass this information to anyone driving your child to or from school, including nannies and grandparents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I park if I am dropping my kids off through the cul-de-sac?
- You can legally park east-facing next to the fence on the north side of the back alley that runs into the 11th street cul-de-sac.
- You can legally park south-facing on the west side of the 11th street cul-de-sac.
- Please do not park south-facing on the east side of the 11th street cul-de-sac, as the people who live in those two houses have their own cars parked in the north-facing direction on the west side of the cul-de-sac. Plus, parking south-facing on the east side of this street is illegal.
Can I enter the 11th street cul-de-sac directly off of 36th Avenue during non-peak times?
Yes, absolutely!
Our school’s longstanding convention of using the cul-de-sac as a one-way is only during peak times.
When parents arrive at the school during non-peak times, then it is perfectly fine to enter the cul-de-sac straight off of 36 Avenue and to use the cul-de-sac to turn your car around. It is only during peak busy times that we ask parents to respect the convention of using it as a one-way – for everyone’s safety.
When I’m running late, can I make an exception and use the teacher parking lot to turn my car around?
Sorry, no. During peak times, over the years, we’ve seen cars trying to do this create traffic schmozzles, cause fender benders, and come close to backing up into the tiny pedestrians we have running around when school lets in and lets out.
One more thing…
Never park your vehicle at the corner of a block. The corner section of each block must be kept clear so little children who are crossing the street have a clear line of sight. According to provincial transportation laws, cars need to be parked 5 m (16 feet) from an intersection (to give you a visual for that distance, a Honda Odyssey is 17 feet long). We never want a child struck by a vehicle on the way to or from our school.
