https://vancouverisl...eders-1.3823721
Residents say they're seeing more fed-up commuters trying to skip traffic by taking Millstream Road, which connects cars from the West Shore to the Saanich Peninsula
Guess the nice folks in Highlands dont like increased traffic in their 'hood. If you have driven there you will know its a narrow winding country road and like Prospect Lake, the folks that are most familiar with it are the ones that will take the risks....a.k.a. the residents. I think they are unhappy with the increased volume of traffic than 'speeders'
I guess using that awful word 'speeders' is like 'foreign buyers' it creates a scapegoat scenario and trigger.
to quote Ann Baird a councillor from Highlands writing on the Local Governance 2.0 FB page
Highlands has discussed interval cameras, speed bumps, speed humps, speed reeders, and road side trails etc in order to improve safety. All of these have issues. Historically, these roads have been multimodal with kids, bikes, horses, joggers, and walkers. Some of our roads are very narrow (one lane, no shoulder, and very curvy with blind corners).
The fire department is not keen on the speed humps as they slow down response time considerably.
Also important to note the the Highlands is only about 2300 people...meaning that our budget for roads is VERY small.
Yesterday we had 3 media events...an article in the Goldstream Gazette, CFAX at noon - 1pm, and CTV.
CFAX crucified us with spin and conflict generating a show more in line with the twilight zone...
CTV showed up here at my house and we had a few community members as well. I read them the riot act about reporting the facts correctly, and they still got it wrong...note that they have corrected the online part of their story.
I want to make it abundantly clear here that:
* Highlands has decided NOTHING. We are simply seeking community engagement at this point.
* 30km/h on all roads was just a number thrown out for discussion purposes. The community, staff, RCMP, and the fire department have not even been consulted. Nothing would happen without full public consultation.
* our discussion to this point is about safety on our roads and the ideas about being a "Slow Community" to focus on community values.
She raises some valid points, its a rural route, traffic is increasing...what should be considered is a regional strategy and looking at the BC Hydro rights of way to cut a road right through to the Peninsula which would take a lot of pressure off the crawl.
When the topic of a new road is raised her response
Our collective regional goal is to reduce GHGe and the amount of cars on roads...that is not going to be achieved by building more roads. That line of thinking got us into this predicament.
IF, our community was interested in being a "slow Community", and IF this included reducing speed limits, and IF we had increased enforcement, our roads would be safer to bike commuters, NZEV's, etc that could be used to connect to commuting corridors with transit options. A true multi-modal solution.Vision statement of the CRD Regional Growth Strategy that ALL agreed to:
“The Capital Regional District residents enjoy a healthy and rewarding quality of life. We have a vital economy, livable communities and steward our environment and natural resources with care. Our choices reflect our commitment to collective action on climate change.”
And this is why we will never have a regional transportation plan that will actually work, it will just be another layer of taxation and regulation and nothing will change apart from folks wallets being lighter
Edited by rjag, 01 March 2018 - 10:40 AM.