A petition was recently submitted to council, urging them to do something more to control speeds of vehicles near residential areas and green spaces where children play. “Speed limits are already 30 kph,” says the petition, “but we sometimes see vehicles driving much faster in these areas.”
The petition urges council to consider more signage and speed enforcement during daylight hours. In addition, the petition urges council to consider installing speed bumps. “We don’t think that it should take a child’s death before there is action from our political leaders.”
The issue centres around the hill coming down Spieker, which passes a series of townhouses, where kids frequently play in front of.
Dezirae Wall was one of the people who signed the petition. “The speed that people do coming down the big hill is concerning,” she says. “Especially with so many families living in the town houses right there. It’s bad enough just simply trying to back out of a driveway down there without getting hit.”
Tim Favelle lives in one of those townhouses, and says he worries about his kids. “I’ve seen my kids running out into the road a few times without looking,” he says. “They’ve spent most of their lives in metro Vancouver so they do know better than to step into the street without listening and looking. I saw a near miss, but it wasn’t my kid, so I can’t really comment on it. I just think there should be speed bumps or rumble strips or something.”
Sergeant James Fayle says he’s heard people’s concerns. “Over the summer of 2019 the Tumbler Ridge RCMP was made aware of the concerns around speeding vehicles on Spieker Avenue, specifically on the hill leading up to Monkman Way,” he says. “Since becoming aware of the concerns, on numerous occasions radar and laser enforcement has been conducted in the Spieker Avenue area with one driver being stopped for speed and several others being stopped for issues unrelated to speed. The vast majority of vehicles observed were not breaking the speed limit of 30km/h though the curving nature of the road does make them appear to be travelling faster than they actually are.”
While the hill on Spieker is the key concern, it’s not the only one. Maleah Dewitter lives near the Elementary school on the middle bench and sees cars driving quite fast down Spruce. “It does worry me when I see vehicles go ripping past our house,” she says. “There are a lot of little kids on this street and it’s a main route home from school for a lot of kids. My kids mostly know to stay close to the house when they’re in the front yard but my dog isn’t quite so smart and has nearly been run over a couple times.”
There are posted speed limit signs located at the entrances into residential areas that state the 30km/hr, though many drivers are exceeding (or apparently exceeding) this speed.
Posting an addition 16 signs would cost about $1250 to the district, but is the least effective method of speed control. While this would increase the visibility of the speed limit, people are already ignoring the signs that there already are; additional signs may not help.
The RCMP has been doing speed checks throughout the community, and, while it is effective, there are limited by the number of members available and time. “They can’t be everywhere at once,” notes Doug Beale, Director of Operations and Infrastructure, in a report to council.
While speed bumps would be effective, they are not recommended by staff. “This option would have a higher success rate, it also poses challenges for road maintenance and the potential to reduce the life expectancy of the newer asphalt by introducing access points for water, which is a detriment to roads in the north due to freezing and expansion of asphalt which results in asphalt failures leading to potholes and cracks,” says the report. “Another negative consequence of speed bumps will be for the winter snow clearing operations. All speed bumps would need to be removed every winter season to accommodate winter snow clearing on residential streets and would increase labor requirements and the core services budget.”
Beale writes that a system that has proven effective in other communities is radar activated speed signs. “The speed activated signs not only make the driver aware of their speed, it will also show anyone that is around the sign what the drivers speed is and bring unwanted attention to them,” he says.
However, this would also be costly, with each sign running to over $5300.
“This option would be costly depending on how many speed activated signs are requested.
One final option to consider, says Beale: amend the Traffic Bylaw No. 627, and reduce residential speed limits to 20km/hr. “Although this will alert drivers to the speed limit it may not necessarily change the habits of some drivers that disobey the law.”
A file audit was conducted back to January 2019 and to date there have been no reports made to the Tumbler Ridge RCMP Detachment regarding issues with speeding vehicles on Speiker Avenue, says Sergeant Fayle. “I appreciate people bringing their concerns forward and encourage them to call the Tumbler Ridge RCMP detachment should they have any concerns around traffic safety in their neighbourhood as this information will allow us to more effectively target the times, drivers and areas of concern. Should you wish to contact the Tumbler Ridge RCMP Detachment we can be reached at 250-242-5252.”
