Slow down: speed limit signs coming to Edmonton junior highs

Edmonton drivers will need to watch their speedometers over the next few weeks,asnew school-zone speed limitsigns are installed at junior high schools across the city.

The 30 km/h signs are going up at 22 junior high schools over the next three weeks in preparation for the start of the 2017/18 school year.

The speed limit will be enforced "from the moment the signs are up,"the city said in a news release Monday.

The 30 km/h limit is in effect during the designated school-zone hours each day.

Another 21 school-zone speed limit signs will be installed throughout the summer, for a total of 43 newschool zones once classes start again in September.

• School zone speed limits reduce collisions and injuries, says city

The new signs come after city council approved reducing speed limits at all junior high schools in October.

Between 2011 and 2014, there were 50 injury collisions near schools with elementary grades an average of about17 per year. Of those, 20 involved pedestrians or cyclists.

The city implemented 30 km/hspeed limit zones in those areas in 2014.

In the following year, there were 10 injurycollisionsin school zones, a reduction of 41 per cent. Of those, two involved pedestrians. No cyclists were in collisions in school zones.

Children aged 10 to 14 have the highest incidence of pedestrian-related injuries, the city said.

"Getting some of the signs up now helps us meet the installation timelines and lets drivers know they need to be extra cautious around junior high schools."