Walking through Walkerville in Windsor, you might notice something unique near King Edward Public School.
It's a new crosswalk decorated with blue butterflies and yellow flowers.
Colourful crosswalks promoting LGBTQ acceptance and honouring Indigenous children who never came home from residential schools have become popular in recent years. However, the crosswalk near King Edward Public School is the first of its kind in the region.
It was installed this week at the corner of Niagara Street and Chilver Road.
(Photo courtesy of Shaun Campbell)
The crosswalk came out of a venture at the Greater Essex County District School Board to promote active transportation to students. Superintendent of Education Todd Awender says five schools, three from the public school board, were involved in a pilot project to encourage students to walk, run, bike, or skateboard to school. The Active Transportation Committee received a grant to hold bicycle lessons and buy bike racks, but the committee earmarked leftover cash for crosswalks in strategic locations.
A second crosswalk is planned outside Talbot Trail Public School, and Awender admits some school communities might request one of their own.
"It does take a lot of time," he said. "You do have to go through the City of Windsor. You have to acquire an artist who's willing to do it and can do it properly. It has to meet code."
Awender hopes the crosswalks will be as successful as other Active Transportation initiatives like bicycle lessons and new bike racks.
"When we did do our bike lessons and the walkability and bike-ability tests, there was a lot of excitement, and we saw a big uptick in the number of students that were making it a point to get to school, whether it be by bike," he said.
Meanwhile, the project will expand to ten schools this year, with a goal to include all of them eventually.
