One of the existing flashing crosswalk signals is located on 100th Street in North Battleford. (File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

Speeding drivers help fund five new flashing crosswalk lights in North Battleford

Jul 18, 2025 | 12:30 PM

By the time students return to class this September, drivers in North Battleford will notice new flashing crosswalk signals at five locations, and the ones caught speeding are helping pay for them.

The city is installing flashing crosswalk signals with help from Saskatchewan’s Provincial Traffic Safety Fund Grant, a program funded through photo speed enforcement (PSE) tickets since 2019.

“Basically, the funds come from people [who] are speeding and get traffic tickets,” said Stewart Schafer, the city’s director of operations, adding that the fund also helped support previous signal light installations.

According to Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), 62 projects in 61 Saskatchewan communities will receive grants this round, totalling nearly $1.54 million. Individual grants range from $853 to $100,000.

Eligible projects must address one or more key traffic safety priorities, including speeding, impaired driving, distracted driving, intersection safety and the protection of vulnerable road users.

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For North Battleford, the province is contributing $41,860.22 toward the $51,860.22 project, with the city covering the remaining $10,000.

Three of the new crosswalks will be installed mid-block along the 1100, 1200 and 1300 blocks of 101st Street. The other two are going up at 17th Avenue and Cousins Drive, in front of Bready Elementary School, and at South Railway Avenue and 99th Street.

Schafer said the goal is to make pedestrians more visible, especially in areas where crosswalks are easy to miss.

“It’s hidden intersections where people don’t realize there’s a crosswalk there,” he said. “So we’re putting it out so that when people [are] crossing the street, the traffic knows, ‘Oh yeah, there’s a crosswalk here.’”

Each location will feature posts on either side of the road with flashing lights that activate when someone presses a button. Schafer said the lights are bright and stay on long enough to give people time to cross safely.

He said the crossing near the school is a priority, and the city hopes to have it installed before students return in September.

“The lights have been ordered,” Schafer said. “We’re hoping before the end or beginning of September, especially for the Bready School one.”

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com