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WATCH: 25 consecutive drivers treat Saanich stop sign as optional

Feltham Road scheduled for spring upgrade
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A Gordon Head resident posted a time-lapse video on Twitter that shows 27 drivers roll through the stop sign to turn right off of Tyndall Avenue southbound and on to Feltham Road westbound. (Ed Wiebe/Twitter)

Out on a morning December run, Gordon Head resident Ed Wiebe couldn’t believe just how few drivers fail to stop when turning right off of Tyndall Avenue and onto Feltham Road.

So he stopped and filmed it.

The finished product, time-lapsed down to 47 seconds, shows it took six minutes to witness the first driver to stop at the stop sign. It was the 28th driver to approach the sign since Wiebe stopped and hit record.

A District of Saanich report says 12,000 vehicles travel through the Feltham corridor daily.

With the fine for failing to stop at a stop sign at $167 under the moter vehicle act, that’s a total of $4,509 for the 27 drivers who cruised the stop sign in the above video. And that’s just from a six minute window on a weekday morning.

“Many, many mornings I have been crossing there heading east and drivers just don’t look to the right to check for pedestrians,” Wiebe said.

Sgt. Jereme Leslie said Saanich Police Traffic Safety Unit usually focuses on areas that are high crash intersections or investigate areas where they receive complaints.

Leslie added environmental designs at intersections can ensure drivers stop for pedestrians, such as a raised crosswalk.

In fact, Feltham Road is scheduled for an upgrade to be completed for the spring, including a “re-laning” that will whittle it down to one lane each way, with turning lanes.

“Some work has already been completed at the Tyndall/Feltham intersection to improve safety as part of this project,” said Megan Catalano, spokesperson. “For example, vegetation has been removed to increase visibility and the sidewalk has been widened.”

As for the remaining improvements, the re-laning of the area will change the layout of the intersection, which will also improve safety. Saanich will also replace and install sidewalks and new bike lanes from along Feltham from Shelbourne to Tyndall.

reporter@saanichnews.com


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