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GOLDSTREAM
NEWS GAZETTE
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
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Area residents Terry Power, left, Etta Connor, Sandy Munro, Philomene Jondreau, Pauline Power and Stephanie Parsons watch traffic go by on Goldstream Avenue, where a woman was killed in a traffic accident in February. The group want the City of Langford to take steps to slow traffic coming off the highway along the west end of Goldstream Avenue and through their neighbourhood. One option the city is looking at is closing Goldstream Avenue and shifting the off ramp to Leigh Road.
Speed issue solutions moving slowly, residents say Langford looking at options for Goldstream Ave. Arnold Lim News staff
Residents on the west end of Goldstream Avenue are concerned. With fast traffic coming off an exit ramp from the Trans Canada Highway onto the western end of Langford’s central roadway, residents worry that if changes are not made, the potential exists for
more accidents like the one that claimed the life of Meesha ChanGrubisic in February. “The issues are speed, not the road, because of the exit ramp on the Trans Canada,” Etta Connor said. “We are faced with large (volume of) traffic on this street that has no shoulders, no proper parking area along the road and no sidewalks. The traffic can go 50 (kilometres per hour) even though there is a recommendation to slow down.” Connor said that in the three years she’s lived in the 1200-block of Goldstream Ave., a resident pulling out of their driveway was
T-boned by another vehicle, a cat was run over and a pedestrian on the street has been killed. She doesn’t want to see any more traffic-related incidents. “When we drive out of our driveways now, it is victimizing. We live in a lovely area we want to keep it safe. It is (about) safety and security.” City of Langford director of engineering Michelle Mahovlich said council is aware of the concerns and has been carefully considering the options, but the answers are not as simple as they may seem. “It is not an easy road to work
Some choices are hard.
with in the current configuration,” she said. “The homes come right on the road right of way. Any improvements removes on-street parking – or there is no room to do any improvements.” Mahovlich said she has considered the options and has been in conversation with the Ministry of Transportation about changes that would see a southbound off-ramp at the Leigh Road Interchange constructed instead and see the Goldstream Avenue access closed. That would, in turn, trigger a number of other changes, including construction of an accelera-
tion lane on the Trans Canada Highway in the southbound lane for vehicles turning right/south onto the highway from Westshore Parkway. In addition, Spencer Road would be closed completely at the TCH, making it a full cul-de-sac along with Goldstream Avenue. The only issue is that it will all take time. “It is the City’s hope it would take place fairly soon. Unfortunately we can’t give a specific date,” Mahovlich said. PlEASE SEE: Residents asked, Page A10
Some are easy.
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