BY KEITH LACEY
One womanÂ?s determined push to have drivers slow down in her Hanmer neighbourhood appears to have paid off.
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City council is expected to approve Thursday evening a staff recommendation to reduce the speed limit on Highway 69 North between St. Mary Street to Frost Street from 80 kilometres an hour to 70 kilometres an hour.
Nathalie Paquette has been working for several months to unite her neighbours and get more than 50 of them to sign a petition asking city officials to reduce the speed limit in her neighbourhood.
All the hard work appears to have paid off for Paquette, who lives on Phillippe Street in Hanmer.
Paquette wanted and still believes the speed limit should be lowered to 60 kilometres an hour throughout the residential neighbourhood, but says sheÂ?s satisfied with a staff report to reduce the speed limit to 70.
Unless drivers slow down, Paquette believes someone is going to get seriously hurt or even killed because there is so much traffic whipping by at excessive speed in this residential neighbourhood.
Â?Why are we waiting for someone to get killed or seriously injured,Â? Paquette asked rhetorically. Â?Almost all of Valley East has a 60-kilometre an hour speed limit, but the speed limit in our neighbourhood remains 80 even though there are so many homes and businesses with entrances going in and out all over the place.
Â?ItÂ?s an accident waiting to happen and unless people start to slow down, IÂ?m afraid something terrible is going to happen.Â?
Paquette said she started her campaign to lower the speed limit after her family dog was hit and killed by a speeding driver last summer.
Â?We had to put down our dog and we lost an animal that was a bit part of our family,Â? she said. Â?I had been watching people speed around here for a long time, but thatÂ?s when I decided something had to be done.Â?
In the past two years alone, her husband has been involved in a car accident and neighbours on either side of her home have also been involved in collisions, all within walking distance of her home, said Paquette.
Â?The problem is that when the speed limit is 80, people tend to drive 90 or 100 kilometres an hour and thatÂ?s just too fast for a neighbourhood with all the homes and businesses we have around here,Â? she said.
Â?If the speed limit is lowered and the police get out to enforce it, I believe people will slow down and we can prevent all the accidents that have been taking place around here.Â?
An elementary school is located in the same 80 kilometre an hour zone and sheÂ?s observed children having to scoot quickly across the highway to avoid speeding traffic, said Paquette.
Â?We have a Tim Hortons, a big mall and there is just so much traffic around here,Â? she said. Â?There are entrances going in and out all over the place and the time has come to slow things down and make sure people are safe. Children shouldnÂ?t have to risk their lives to cross the highway.Â?
The petition she circulated not only asks for the speed limit to be reduced, but that a walkway or traffic signal be installed in the same area to assist pedestrians crossing the highway.
The area in question has two lanes in each direction and a centre, two-lane left turn lane.
A city staff report indicates the annual average daily traffic volume is 14,000 vehicles west of Elmview Drive and 13,000 vehicles to the east.
The report agrees there is significant development in the area of Elmview Drive, including the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre, a large food store and number of other commercial driveways all within a high-volume residential corridor.
The city conducted a speed study in the area under ideal road and weather conditions. The speed of approximately 100 vehicles in each direction was recorded and the results indicated motorists did reduce their operating speed as they approach the built up area near Elmview Drive.
However, research indicates drivers tend to select speeds they consider safe rather than the posted speed limit.
The report indicates 85 per cent of drivers drive the speed limit or above.
Â?Based on the results of the speed study, the geometric design of the road and level of development, it is recommended the maximum speed limit be reduced from 80 km/h to 70 km/h along Municipal Road 80 from St. Mary Boulevard to Frost Street,Â? says the report.
The report also says the largest number of collisions in the area occurred in the built up commercial zone and most involved turning in and out of commercial entrances and side roads.
Simply reducing the speed limit will not necessarily result in a reduction in the number of collisions, however, a lower speed limit in conjunction with increased police enforcement will help improve safety in the area, says the report.
The report says the walkway or stop light requested for Phillippe Street would provide an increased safety factor, however, pedestrian volumes are too low to warrant the installation of pedestrian traffic signals.
There is a signalized intersection not far away at Elmview Drive and this is the safest area to cross the highway, says the report.
Having another crosswalk so close Â?may create a false sense of security on the part of pedestrians, particularly children, who may enter the crosswalk expecting approaching drivers will see them and stop,Â? says the repot.
Consideration was given by the city to install a raise median near Phillippe Street to provide a refuge for pedestrians crossing the roadway.
However, due to the number and location of driveways on both sides of the road, installing an island would likely require relocation or closure of some driveways and is not recommended.
City staff will continue to monitor pedestrian traffic in the area to determine if initial measures are required.
