UHill Elementary School

Whichever way you and your children get to UHill, be it walking, cycling, transit or driving, the situation gets more chaotic and stressful the closer we get to the school. Something needs to be done to improve this situation, and create a safer, smoother journey to school for everyone.

We are a group of parents who really want to improve this situation for everyone. We have talked to teachers and administrators about this issue and would like to invite all UHill families to this conversation. Changes take effort, time and collaboration so we are asking for your help and vocal advocacy. We are working on a proposal to improve the safety of all modes of transport to the school, and the more families supporting this project, the more likely we will succeed.

How you can help:

Showing us how you get your child(ren) to school. We recognize that most people use different modes; some mostly drive, walk or cycle, and then there are days we do something different. Knowing how (mode and routes) every kid comes to school will help us build a proposal that looks after the safety and concerns of every family. Exact start locations are not important as long as the route captures all important features along the way.

You can browse the existing school routes on the map, select an existing one that matches your route and travel mode to add your child or create a new route using the path tool.

You can look through the list of existing school routes on this page, and if you find a good match with your route and mode of transport you can simply mark it as being used by one additional child.
The proposal below is a starting point for discussion, and will be enhanced by knowing more about your routes, and your feedback. Please take the time to read and comment.
To volunteer and help out, please send an email to bikeWalkUBC@gmail.com.

Main Ingredients of the Traffic Improvements Proposal

The intersection of Chancellor Blvd and Hambler Rd poses a major safety hazard for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike. To improve safety for all road users the focus should be to separate all modes of travel and reduce speeds.

Narrowing Chancellor to one travel lane in each direction with long turning bays and normalizing the intersction is a good starting point. It will help reduce speeds along Chancellor Blvd, shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians and cyclists and remove issues with the traffic island and the right turn lane.

Adding a proper traffic light on Hambler Rd with a signal phase that is separate from Chancellor traffic and the pedestrian lights will make exiting Hambler Rd easy and stress-free. Adding an advance green for eastbound Chancellor traffic will make left turns onto Hambler Rd much easier. There will be no turns on red allowed.

Adding a crossing of Hambler Rd fills the need of many children and parents that already cross Hambler at various points. It enables a natural and shorter walking path on the east side of Hambler, compared to the existing one on the south side.

Widen Pathway

The existing sidewalk on the west side of Hambler Rd, which is also part of the Salish Trail, is too narrow to accommodate the children walking and cycling to school, and the children being dropped off by car along there. Widening the path is essential to provide for safe and comfortable walking at this major choke point.

Adding the pedestrian intersection at the start of Hambler Rd and connecting it to the existing sidewalk on the west side will further help to relieve pressure on the east pathway and provide a shorter and convenient route for pedestrians and help reduce pedestrians crossing at unmarked points.

Especially for out of boundary parents, driving is an important way to get to UHill Elementary. But even parents that mostly walk or cycle sometimes choose to drive to UHill. The lack of space for parking, drop off and pickup is stressful, frustrating and promotes unsafe behaviour.

Narrowing Chancellor Blvd opens the possibility to add parking along some sections of Chancellor Blvd near the school. Underused space near the UEL office and recycling area offer a great opportunity to add parking in close proximity to the school.

School Routes

Browse school routes using the map! or the list below.

To add your child's school route, select an existing one if there is a close enough match of existing route and travel mode, or plot a new route on the map.

School Routes List

8 different routes taken by 25 children.