Councillors in Gibsons are being asked to consider adding traffic calming measures to Glassford Road.
Gibsons resident Emily Doyle, who lives on one of the nearby streets, presented a petition to council at its July 21 meeting.
“Glassford Road is currently quite wide and straight and I perceive the vehicle traffic to be much faster on this road compared to other roads in the immediate neighborhood,” Doyle said. “The road is home to many community members including families with small children.”
Doyle said when she started making the rounds with her petition, which she pointed out was done “at a safe distance,” she met many people who are also concerned about the speeds on Glassford.
“I was a bit discouraged by some people who warned me that this issue had been brought up before and nothing had changed,” she said. “But what excited me about asking for it now, was the increase in people using active transport and kids playing in the neighborhood as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic … Now more than ever, we need our community to be safe for us to all be able to socialize and be out.”
Doyle said some of the ideas she and the petitioners would like the Town to consider include speed bumps, road narrowing sidewalks, crosswalks, roundabouts, street trees and speed limit reductions.
Mayor Bill Beamish, who said he often uses Glassford Road to get from his home to the waterfront to launch his kayak, said the design of the road “does invite speed.”
Beamish said he thinks there is an opportunity to redesign the road along the lines of earlier work done on Franklin Road, which he said while “not perfect” is now a “more community based road.”
He also said there’s already been discussion about closing Glassford off at Gower Point Road to reduce traffic.
Coun. Annemarie De Andrade also said she would support measures to encourage active transportation options, especially in areas where a lot of the residents are seniors.
