Playground & School Zone Harmonization

June 2023 -

The City of Lethbridge is creating safe and consistent speed zones across the community by harmonizing school and playground zones. Starting September 5, 2023, all school and playground zones will be converted to year-round playground zones with a 30 km/hour maximum speed limit from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Lethbridge City Council approved this change in Spring 2023, and the bylaw update process is likely to be confirmed on July 11, 2023. The Lethbridge Police Service, Lethbridge School Division, Holy Spirit School Division, Southwest Alberta Road Safety Society, and members of Alberta Health Services’ South Zone West Trauma Services, have all provided their support for this initiative. Like many other cities across Alberta, this change is being introduced to make it easier for drivers to remember speed zones, increases compliance and more importantly, reduce serious collisions.

Community-wide reminders about the upcoming changes to school and playground zones will begin later in the summer as new signage is installed across the City. Large scale maps of the North, South and West Lethbridge playground zones are included in the Documents library on this page, as well as answers to Frequently Asked Questions. Enforcement of the new zones will begin September 5, 2023.

Questions or concerns about playground zone harmonization can be addressed by calling or chatting with our 311 call centre.

May 2023 -

This initiative is scheduled to be discussed at the May 16, 2023 City Council meeting.

January 2023 -

The Transportation Safety Plan 2021 recommends harmonizing School and Playground Zones. Harmonizing School and Playground Zones means the City of Lethbridge would:

•Change existing School Zones to Playground Zones

•Change the effective time of Playground Zones to 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM, every day

Concerns with current practice

Playground Zones

School Zones

•In effect from 8:30 AM to one hour after sunset vs. school zones in effect from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM

•In effect everyday of the year vs. school zones only in effect when school is held

•Late start time, in summer playground usage starts earlier that 8:30 AM

•One hour after sunset varies with the season and is confusing for drivers

•In effect from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM vs. playground zone in effect from 8:30 AM to one hour after sunset

•In effect on any day that school is held vs. playground zones in effect everyday of the year

•Only effective during school days and drivers are not sure which days are school days

•Schools are regularly used outside of school hours, well into the evenings on weekdays and weekends for extracurricular activities, clubs, sports, etc.

•Many schools have playground equipment and are used as playgrounds outside of school hours/days

Current practice is inconsistent with many municipalities in Alberta that have harmonized School and Playground Zones.

Why harmonize playground and school zones?

Fixed end time is easier for motorists to remember (one hour after sunset varies with the season)
Longer speed reduction in Playground Zones would increase safety by reducing the severity of collisions
A consistent provincial start and end time for Playground Zones and School Zones making it easier for motorists to remember to reduce speed and reduce confusion for drivers
Municipalities with harmonized school and playground zones: Calgary (2015), Medicine Hat (2016), Red Deer (2017), Edmonton (2018), Chestermere (2019), High River (2018), Sylvan Lake (2019), Coaldale (2022)
Lethbridge School District, Holy Spirit School District, and Lethbridge Police Service have provided their support

Estimated Implementation Cost: $65,000