Re: Resident concerned over speeding on Cairndale Road (Gazette, Dec. 8)
This letter is in response to the man who just moved to Cairndale Road and is now complaining about speeds on that road. Currently, for some inexplicable reason, the speed limit on Cairndale Road is 30 km/h.
Cairndale Road is a well-built road with sidewalks on both sides except the portion on the hill. In that area there is still a sidewalk on one side for pedestrians to safely walk in the area. There is no school on Cairndale Road and there is no playground.
There is absolutely no reason for the speed limit on Cairndale Road to be 30 km/h. That is old school thinking. The speed limit on every road in British Columbia is 50 km/h unless otherwise posted. The speed limit on Cairndale Road should be 50 km/h.
The mayor, in the Gazette’s story, is quoted as saying council “…is potentially looking at installing traffic calming measures such as speed bumps.” This is totally absurd and backward thinking and will only inconvenience and anger the large number of motorists that must use Cairndale Road to get to Veterans Memorial Parkway every single day.
My suggestion to the mayor is that she get her road crew to gather data on the number of motorists and speeds of motorists on Cairndale Road. She would then probably see that the 85th percentile is probably no higher than 45 km/h. That means 85 per cent of drivers probably are not going over 45 km/h. That is a safe speed on that well-built road. The only thing happening with leaving the speed limit at 30 km/h is that it is making many responsible and experienced drivers offenders under the Motor Vehicle Act.
I have driven that road hundreds of times and have never seen what the new homeowner is alleging, such as people being put at risk. There is a low number of pedestrians and they are always safely walking on the sidewalks. It may speak more to his own driving abilities that he states he himself has had near misses “pulling onto Cairndale Road” in the extremely short time he has lived there.
He should have done his homework and purchased a home on a cul-de-sac if he did not want people driving on the road he purchased a home on.
I urge all drivers that regularly use Cairndale Road to send a letter to council, petitioning them to have the speed limit set at 50 km/h like it is across B.C. and to insist no speed bumps are put in.
Marc Chateau
Colwood