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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, August 30, 2013 | 6 Back to school with safe driving Children return to school next Tuesday and it's important that everyone is aware of the rules, how to behave and the consequences for acting improperly. We're not referring to the kids, but to drivers when it comes to sharing the road with school buses. The Canada Safety Council reminds drivers to be vigilant and patient when encountering school buses. The Highway Traf c Act states every driver, approaching from both directions toward a school bus with overhead red signal-lights ashing, must stop and not proceed until the bus moves or the overhead red signal-lights have stopped ashing (except on highways separated by a median strip, where oncoming traf c isn't required to stop). Also, school buses are required by law to stop at all railway crossings; motorists should likewise be prepared to stop behind school buses. Breaking the law is costly -- nes are as high as $2,000 and motorists can expect up to nine demerit points for the rst offense. Some simple tips for drivers to follow include respecting crossing guards, slowing down in school zones, being extra cautious during periods of the day when kids are traveling to and from school and watching for children at crosswalks. Getting caught speeding or breaking other rules of the road in posted community safety zones will also cost you twice as much in nes than when traveling along other roadways. Halton Police will also be operating Project Safe Start Sept. 2-13 for the eighth year (see story on page 9). As well, with kids heading back to school next week, distracted driving is of particular concern to the OPP as distraction-related collision fatalities in its jurisdictions continue to surpass impaired driving-related deaths this year -- the OPP says so far in 2013, 47 of the 177 people killed in motor vehicle collisions within its jurisdictions were part of cases involving distracted driving, compared to 32 impaired driving-related collision deaths. Speeding and other aggressive driving behaviour, impaired driving and seatbelt compliance also will be on the OPP's radar over the long weekend that precedes the start of another school year. Apparently , students are not the only ones who need a lesson at this time of year. Please drive safely. Editorial C L E A N I N G U P "Connected to your Community" 467 Speers Road, Oakville ON, L6K 3S4 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 632-0588 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 51 | Number 104 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice ­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN Halton Regional Police Service, in partnership with Community Youth in Action Network (CYAN), United Way Oakville and the Town, co-ordinated a community clean-up along Sixteen Mile Creek Wednesday. Const. Matt Baker, centre, picks up garbage in a forest near Sixteen Mile Creek, along with youths from CYAN, Jack Mogus, left, and Umer Panhwar. | photo by Hannah Yoon ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS Building a better road network Gary Carr Halton Regional Chair My View MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager ore than once I've been told by corporate representatives that they've chosen to locate their business in Halton because of the Region's commitment to maintaining and improving the Regional road system. These comments have reinforced my belief that our growing Region needs an effective road system for moving people and goods to ensure our quality of life and economic prosperity. In 2011, Halton Region's Transportation Master Plan -- The Road to Change -- established a 20-year, $2.4 billion capital program to meet transportation demand to 2031. The master plan is the blueprint for all the Regional road work you are seeing today and the signi cant changes still to come. By the end of 2016, segments of all 15 major Regional road corridors will have been improved to provide additional capacity and 153 M kilometres of new lanes. East-west capacity on portions of our Regional roads will increase by 16 additional lanes and the north-south capacity will increase by 14 additional lanes. In addition, 217 kilometres of shared or dedicated on-road bike lanes and off-road multi-use pathways will have been provided as part of the Region's Active Transportation Master Plan. In north Oakville, the Region has already completed the widening of Dundas Street (Regional Road 5) from Proudfoot Trail to Neyagawa Boulevard (Regional Road 4), including the construction of the new Sixteen Mile Creek Bridge. Starting in 2014, the widening of Dundas Street will be extended west from Proudfoot Trail to Bronte Road (Regional Road 25) and work will be nished on the section between Oak Park Boulevard and Hwy. 403. Regional Road 25 is now being widened and improved in sections stretching from Hwy. 407 north to Derry Road in the Town of Milton. Later this year, road widening and intersection improvement work will begin on Ninth Line between Upper Middle Road and Dundas Street. Future plans also include the North Oakville Transportation Corridor -- a new east-west Regional road connecting Regional Road 25 and Ninth Line south of Hwy. 407. See Capital on p.7 Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: ATHENA Award The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to: ablackburn@oakvillebeaver. com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.