By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: Sept 13, 2017
Brackendale residents are asking the district to improve road safety for kids in the neighbourhood by installing stop signs on Depot Road to slow traffic or add speed bumps.
“Depot road is like a highway and cars rarely stop or slow down for children even at the crosswalk. There are no protective barriers for kids biking to Brackendale elementary and no speed restrictions on depot road from Hgwy 99 all the way to government. Many kids use this route to go to school and there is no dedicated bike lane so cars park in the lane and force kids on to the street with cars zooming by,” said Jon Chiniborch, a resident of Depot Road.
Chiniborch said Depot Road has no dedicated bike path, and car are parked on the road which forces the kids on to the driving lane. He said there are no stop signs or speed bumps from Highway 99 to Government road, and cars are usually driving quite fast.
An additional crosswalk is needed on Depot Road and Ross road, and many areas have cars parked on which blocks visibility and creates risks with children not being seen by drivers.
“These cars parked block visibility and force children to bike on Depot Road with cars speeding right beside them at 60-80 KMs / Hour. As a parent of 4 children (2 on bikes)…..this is a terrifying ordeal. In our little Honey Lane Neighborhood, we have over 20 kids ranging from 2 to 15 years of age. All of them are active children who bike to school and the parks,” he said.
He said the residentils would like a dedicated bike lane on Depot Road with No Parking signs, as well as no parking signs to the east of Reid Road on Depot. The district should also install a cross walk at Ross and Depot so children can cross safely. The district should also install a Jungle gym in the Honey Lane area green space so kids don’t have to bike to Arrowhead Park.
The district plans to install a crosswalk at Ross / Depot and also to provide additional signage for cars to slow down in advance of the crosswalks. They are also looking to improve sightlines by installing no parking signs on certain areas of depot road.
They also plan to have no parking on pavement signs similar to the ones on Government Road. Chiniborch said the neighbors would love to see more stop signs on the street to slow down traffic or maybe some speed bumps but this does not look like its in the plans.
Judd Road is another hazardous road for children. An independent traffic study was done in 2007 which identified that the road was at BC standards for vehicular traffic, but far below BC standards for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Traffic and parking, as well as number of kids, has increased greatly since the study was done. Yet the district wants to increase residential development.