A group of young Squamish Elementary students and their mothers have begun walking from their Hospital Hill or Smoke Bluffs homes to the school – and they’re calling their group a “walking school bus.”
The children like running downhill the best, one mother said. “There’s quite a bit of downhill and that can encourage little legs to run and have fun,” said Helen Croza, a mother of a seven-year-old boy.
Wednesday is the day the most families are involved, but various combinations of kids and parents walk other days as well.
The coordinated walks got started in January after the Haste BC school travel planning started in Squamish.
“All of the families in the neighbourhood would walk or bike to school once in a while, but we found that due to the distance, none of us were doing it consistently,” said walker Kate O’Connor, a mother to two boys aged five and seven.
The number of walkers varies, but there are usually four parents and 10 children. The walk takes about 35 minutes, depending on how quickly little legs and curious minds can be organized along the way.
Nathalie Boisvert walks with her eight-year-old son on Tuesdays.
“It is a great way to start the day for one and … it makes me feel better and I think the kids appreciate it. They actually love socializing on the way down.”
Boisvert said the message to the children is the driving isn’t always necessary. For physical and environmental reasons, lacing up and heading out the door is often a better option.
It is concern for safety that prevents the parents from letting their children attempt the walk on their own, the mothers say. Not only does the route to school include a stretch along the highway, but the children also have to cross the most dangerous intersection in the district.
“Once we get to Cleveland Avenue and Highway 99, we are on full alert, constantly watching for cars,” Croza said.
The district, ICBC and the province are funding a joint safety study on the intersection, the results of which is expected in a few months, according to the district. Things don’t become much safer once the group has safely navigated the intersection, Croza said.
When cars come down the highway heading south from Whistler and turn into the downtown, they can’t see and are usually going too quickly, Croza said.
“It is this really narrow sidewalk where the bush from McDonalds comes up to the side and then all the ins and outs – which is really confusing. It is so dangerous.”
Ultimately the parents would like to see an overpass from Rose Park to the east across the highway. “This would connect the [Squamish] Adventure Centre to downtown Squamish and create access between the large Valleycliffe neighbourhood and the Smoke Bluffs Park to all the amenities in downtown Squamish,” O’Connor said.
Regardless of when upgrades are put in place, the parents plan to keep up the walks, they say.
“This is so wonderful to see,” said Keely Kidner of Haste BC,
“I hope more parents and students are inspired to join, and to see how walking or cycling the route to school can be an opportunity for connection and learning,” she said.
