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Clayburn residents fed up with speeders

Recent city study shows just 15 per cent of drivers obey posted 30 km/h speed limit
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Luanne Patterson wants the city to get motorists to slow down along Clayburn Road

Clayburn Village residents want the city to put the brakes on speeders in the historic neighbourhood.

Luanne Patterson, the president of the Clayburn Village Community Society (CVCS), recently pleaded with the city's Transportation Advisory Committee for traffic-calming measures and sidewalks to curb rampant speeding along Clayburn Road.

Patterson pointed to "excessive and persistent speeding" in a letter accompanying her presentation, and decried a lack of action by the city over more than two decades.

"The first records I have for village residents discussing traffic speed and volume concerns with the City was dated 1992," she later told The News via email. "Despite ongoing complaints and discussions on this topic, we've had no resolution in 25 years."

Patterson said the city looked at traffic-calming options in 2004, and received $100,000 from a developer in 2008 for such measures.

She said that consistent speeding, along with a lack of sidewalks on Clayburn Road, "affects the community's use of the village, puts our families and friends in harm's way and impacts the small businesses located along the road ... A catastrophic accident involving serious injury or death appears inevitable."

The speed limit in the village is 30 km/h, but a traffic analysis by the city last fall found that only 15 per cent of drivers obey the limit. Half of all drivers heading west on Clayburn Road exceed the limit by more than 10 km/h, the study found.

"Twenty-five years is too long," she wrote to the city. "It's time for a solution."

The society is asking for a path or sidewalk through the village connecting to the Old Clayburn Road sidewalk, "physical traffic-calming measures," and a crosswalk.

A staff report on the issue said the city has a range of options. But it also noted that Clayburn Road was a rural collector road, and that traffic-calming measures weren't "typically" used on such routes. However, the report said "passive" traffic-calming measures could be considered, along with education, enforcement and engineering options.

Passive traffic-calming measures can include road markings and other modifications that try to influence the behaviour of motorists without physically modifying the roadway.

Patterson, for her part, says Clayburn Road is a special case, and noted that traffic circles are used in busy areas to slow traffic. While the city's traffic procedure manual suggests collector roads aren't "eligible" for traffic-calming measures, Patterson said there's nothing stopping council from altering the manual.

The Transportation Advisory Committee supported the request, which will come before council at a later date.