One Peatt Road resident is worried collisions are becoming too common at the intersection with Goldstream Avenue.
“It happens all the time,” said Denise Ryan. “I almost get hit every day.”
Ryan, who has Parkinson’s disease, spends a lot of her time walking through the community. “Not that I have to but I like to,” she said. During her daily journey on Langford streets and boulevards, she spends a lot of time not only watching traffic but also interacting with it as a pedestrian.
She noted the Peatt Road and Goldstream Avenue intersection is especially treacherous for pedestrians and cyclists, as drivers are often not paying attention to other road users. “People are looking left when they’re turning right,” she said, adding she regularly sees drivers run red lights.
According to ICBC’s most recent figures, there were 477 crashes in Langford in 2013. Among the areas accounting for the most crashes, the Goldstream and Peatt intersection was sixth on the list with 17.
The top spot, collectively, was the Millstream Road on and off ramps at the Trans-Canada Highway with 55 crashes, followed by the Goldstream Avenue and Veterans Memorial Parkway intersection with 35, Happy Valley and Sooke roads with 30, McCallum and Millstream roads with 25, and the Jacklin and Sooke roads intersection with 19.
However, Ryan believes traffic-related incidents and near misses have increased on Peatt Road in recent years. “It’s getting worse and worse all the time now.”
Ryan, who has lived in the 2700-block of Peatt Rd. since 2013, points to new development in the area driving the perceived increase in traffic on her street, especially the new buildings on Hockley Avenue which have added many new residents to the area.
She also noted a number of motorists use Peatt Road to bypass Veterans Memorial Parkway and she regularly sees cars roll through the parking lot at West Shore Town Centre without stopping to shop. “People go there just to cut through,” she said. “It’s crazy, it happens all of the time.”
The City of Langford has been working on addressing some of those issues along Peatt Road and plans are in the works to conduct a Speed Watch in the area, according to City staff.
Ryan mentioned recent improvements to a crosswalk located between the roundabout at Brock Avenue and the Goldstream intersection. Before, she said, pedestrians would have to step into traffic and around a parking space to access the crosswalk. Now the parking spot is gone, the shoulder is paved and the crosswalk features flashing lights.
But while she is grateful for the improved access, vehicles still aren’t stopping for pedestrians, she said, even when the lights are flashing. She hopes the City will consider reducing the speed limit on Peatt to 30 km/h.
“I think it’ll be a deterrent to people who are speeding,” she said, noting that even if cars are travelling at 40 km/h it would make a difference.
City officials opted not to comment on speed-related issues on the road until further studies could be done. West Shore RCMP did not answer requests for comment by the Gazette’s deadline.
Ryan’s other suggestion is that red light cameras be installed in intersections throughout the city. She noted if people start getting tickets, maybe they’ll think twice about some of their driving habits.
katie@goldstreamgazette.com