As drivers and cyclists adjust to the new road configuration on Gibsons Way, some people are not willing to accept it.
The congregation of St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church has started a petition to object to the recent changes in Gibsons.
"We now have three roads, including the highway and ferry traffic trying to converge into one lane at an intersection that is home to a busy church, a theatre and three schools," said Rev. Peter van der Leelie. "And only a block or so away, also competing with ferry traffic, are the ambulance and fire stations. It is only a matter of time before a serious accident results."
Van der Leelie said users of the church, which is at the corner of North Road and Gibsons Way, are complaining they cannot get into the parking lot off the road.
"There are times we can't even get into the church parking lot, and church members have noted several close calls as pedestrians, many of them children, and three lanes of traffic try to go into one lane," he said.
Jay Porter, project manager from Ministry of Transportation and Infra-structure, said upgrades to the road will be monitored for a year and that summer, the busiest season on the Coast, will be their benchmark for how well the new system works and what improvements can be made.
"At each signal on North, Shaw, Sunnycrest, Venture and Pratt, we've installed Automax," he said. "It senses a huge flux in traffic and it will start extending the green time. It will double it to 40 seconds."
He also said they took into consideration the church and the intersection it is on when they created the new road plan and are willing to work with the congregation. The next upgrade is to improve signage for pedestrians at the crosswalk at North Road.
"We'll look at it. We know that it's a work in progress," said Porter. "We made it safer, and we are trying to maintain safety."
Van der Leelie said the bike lanes are another cause for concern.
"Narrow bicycle lanes on the highway have also created a problem as smaller vehicles zip into them and use them as right-hand turn lanes. Another problem is those folks who enter the new turn lanes too early, driving in the yellow zone and creating a risk to other drivers," he said.
Porter said the bike lanes are meant to double as right-hand turnouts where marked.
"If there's no cyclist there -you're supposed to look first -you can turn right," he said. "The painted islands are to deter people from making left turns [at dangerous spots]."
Signatures for the petition will be collected at the church's main office throughout June from Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to noon.
