The Hanover School Division is pleased with the response by the City of Steinbach to its request to improve safety on Barkman Avenue at Fourth Street. Assistant Superintendent Rick Ardies wrote a letter to the city last fall, asking that the intersection be changed to a four-way stop and that the speed limit on Barkman be reduced to 30 KMH. Ardies says while the city council did not change the speed limit, it did approve the four-way stop.

"The City of Steinbach responded to that favourably and we're very pleased. This request was all about the safety of the children that are pedestrians in the area and we believe this is a move that will keep a lot of kids that much safer. Our concern is to slow down traffic along Barkman just because of the volume of kids that are there every day. The four-way stop will serve that purpose."

Ardies says the school division is also happy to hear that the city will continue to monitor traffic there to determine whether any further action is needed.

"The city mentioned it will continue to monitor the speed and traffic flow along Barkman and we appreciate that as well. If there's a need to take the further action of reducing the speed limit, we'll talk with the city at that time."

Ardies notes, in school zones where speed limits have been reduced, the move is having a marked effect.

"The difference that it makes when traffic is going at 30 kilometres per hour instead of 50 is really quite dramatic."