Sherman Road not alone with speeding problems
We, the residents and business who live and operate along Cowichan Bay Road between Hecate Park and the tennis courts, have been appealing to the CVRD and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure over this past year about the dangerous conditions and the crisis of speed that we are subjected to daily.
We have had no luck. The CVRD has no jurisdiction, and the Ministry is not focused on community safety, but moving goods and services along highways. And we have been told repeatedly that we are a highway! No need to convince us of that as cars, buses, pick-up trucks, delivery vans, container trucks, and motorcycles fly by our front doors (within metres) all day, every day at highway speeds, and far in excess of the posted 60 km/h. This is also an unlighted corridor which makes nighttime especially dangerous. In addition to the residents trying to safely enter and exit their driveways, these high-speed vehicles regularly encounter walkers, joggers, cyclists, children awaiting school buses, clients attending a home-based business without any safe spaces to step aside. We finally received a response from Tina Rogers, operations manager for MOTI, which says in part:
“Essentially, Cowichan Bay Road is treated no differently by the Ministry than any other road in the province with regards to safety and available speed mitigation efforts.
“I have spoken to some of our Engineers and they assure me that, should the physical parameters and use of the road bring it to a state where a driver could not safely meet the 60km/h maximum, in ideal conditions, Ministry engineers would then be able to consider a lower speed zone for the corridor.
“At this time the Ministry is not considering any traffic control or speed control measures on Cowichan Bay Road, as there is currently no data to suggest there are any imminent issues with the corridor.
“I can tell you that, the corridor has been flagged for review for our local Vancouver Island District staff to determine if any smaller road enhancements (e.g., line painting) can be made in the upcoming years.”
Oh, well….I hope the “line painting” doesn’t include an outline of a body on the side of the road!
Joe Solanto
Cowichan Bay Road