Slow Down Dundas Day takes place at Dundas and Penticton streets from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. today (Sept. 14). Residents are pushing for traffic calming.
Members of the Dundas Street Group, which operates slowdowndundas.org, maintain motorists, including commercial trucks and buses, use the five-block stretch on Dundas Street between Nanaimo and Renfrew as a high-speed shortcut to avoid travelling on Hastings Street or McGill.
Some students need to cross Dundas to get to Hastings elementary school, located at 2625 Franklin St.
There are near misses every morning and afternoon when motorists fail to stop despite a crosswalk that lights up when activated by a pedestrian, according to the group, while vehicles routinely exceed 60 to 70 kilometres per hour, ignore pedestrians at crosswalks at Penticton and Slocan, and pass cars that are waiting to turn.
Carol Alexander, the group's cochair, has a seven-year-old, but she became interested in the issue before she had a child since her house overlooks the crosswalk at Dundas and Penticton.
When she moved to the neighbourhood and started gardening, Alexander was struck by the sound of screeching brakes.
"I was just blown away by how dangerous it was," she recalled, adding residents have been dealing with the problem for years.
"It's pretty frustrating. I'm glad no one's been killed on Dundas Street- that there haven't been any pedestrian accidents. I believe there was one fatality a couple of years ago with a motorcyclist," she said. "We're just glad that no kids have been involved. I watch the kids crossing every morning and it's amazing no one's been hit. So we're going to keep fighting until we get some calming measures."
The Dundas Street Group formed in 2004 and was instrumental in getting Dundas Street downgraded, in 2005, from its status as a secondary arterial to a neighbourhood collector, which is designed to provide access to secondary arterials for local residents. But traffic problems persist and residents want a resolution. Dundas might get traffic turning circles or other traffic calming features based on the outcome of upcoming public consultation, although residents are worried budget shortfalls will slow progress on those plans.
"I think [there's been progress]. We have a [city] engineer working on a plan for us right now and we're pretty optimistic about that, but we do know it keeps getting pushed. In the most recent correspondence with the engineer, he said possible construction has been pushed to the spring of 2012, so we know if we don't keep up with the pressure, it's never going to happen," Alexander said. "And we're going to have a new city council in 2012 and they're going to be the ones that'll have to approve the plans and they've never even heard of the collector project."
Participants in Slow Down Dundas Day will gather at the intersection of Penticton and Dundas on Wednesday to help school children cross the roadway. Organizers suggest participants wear bright costumes and offer smiles and waves to drivers travelling along the route.
Alexander calls it a great community event. "A lot of motorists thank us because sometimes they're blowing down the street and they forget that there's a crosswalk and there are kids going to school, so they say, 'Thanks for reminding us.'"
Twitter: @naoibh
