Residents living on Wylie Crescent say they are concerned about their safety. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Slow down please

Speed concerns raised in Carlton Park neighbourhood

Oct 29, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Over 40 people living on Wylie Crescent in the southeast part of the city are fed up with the amount of speeding drivers cruising through the neighbourhood, and have signed a petition to highlight their concerns.

Wylie Crescent can be accessed off Wylie Street, but also connects Dunn Drive to Sherman Drive. Bill Jeffery created the petition and told paNOW all the people he talked to had families, and many have expressed concern a small child might get hit.

“If they didn’t have children they had grandchildren that would come visit and bring their bikes and ride on the street,” he said.

Jeffery explained there are also a lot of kids on the street who like to play street hockey or skateboard. Last summer the city re-paved the street which homeowners like Jeffery appreciated, but he explained it also attracted more traffic.

“Every once in a while you’ll just like go like ‘holy man’, and other people have said they’ve actually tried to stop people and tell them to slow down,” he said.

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One of the proposed solutions is a speed bump, but with a number of other neighbourhoods in the city asking for the same thing, the waiting list could be quite long. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

Jeffery initially brought his petition to city hall over a month ago and since then it has been referred by council to both the department of public works and the board of the police commissioners. Jeffery said he had noticed the city had put counters on the street to monitor the amount of traffic.

“Its not so much how much traffic, it’s just that some people speed through at the speeds that they go,” he said.

When asked what solution he would suggest, Jeffery proposed some speed bumps put up on both ends of the crescent, and a sign advertising a reduced speed limit of 20 km/h.

“[The street] is not very long. It’s not going to slow people too much. It might make a difference of a minute in their schedule,” he explained.

A spokesperson for the city’s public works department confirmed for paNOW the city is doing a study on the Wylie Crescent speed bump proposal as well as a few other places where speed bumps have been requested. A report is expected to come to city council before the end of the year. Ward 6 Coun. Blake Edwards told paNOW the petition needs to be taken seriously.

“The residents have voiced their concerns which is why we are taking steps to see what can be done,” he said, noting that vehicle counters were in place right now. “I’m a believer that speed calming measures work and that we should place them in appropriate spots around the city, especially around schools.”

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell