By Steph Troughton
newsroom@mapleridgenews.com
Somerset Drive and Park Road residents may soon see traffic slowing down in front of their homes.
At a regular council meeting last week, Pitt Meadows council voted in favor of staff further investigating the cost of implementing a number of traffic-calming devices, which would include installing a temporary roundabout and upgrading the Somerset Drive and Park Road intersection with green crosswalks, advance stop lines and removed curb extensions.
As well, council received recommendations that included installing 30/km hour maximum speed signs and signs stating fines double for speeding in the area, however staff indicated they would have to further investigate whether or not the city had authority to install these signs.
Following receipt of the cost report and potential installation of these devices, council agreed they would further investigate the possibility of installing a permanent roundabout. Once the new devices are implemented and drivers had become accustomed to the changes, council would consider the recommendation to install a speed reader that would measure the effectiveness of the actions taken.
Park Road resident Darlene Mercer attended the Tuesday council meeting and asked what the anticipated timeline would be for confirmation on costs and was told staff would begin the process immediately.
A longtime advocate for speed prevention in her neighborhood, Mercer has been lobbying for traffic-calming devices for years. Last summer, she wrote council about the issue.
“Our neighborhood has been asking for traffic calming since we moved here about 17 years ago,” she said.
At that time, Mercer stated she and her neighbors “still have a problem with people speeding through our neighborhood. Every school term, there is a great concern over people going through the four-way at Park and Bonson or going too fast in front of the school.”
Coun. Janis Elkerton said she liked the idea of Pitt Meadows, in its entirety, becoming “a traffic-calmed city.”