Powell Drive speeders worry Carbonear councillor

By Mark Squibb

Carbonear councillor Danielle Doyle said she has heard concerns raised over the ineffectiveness of the new crosswalk installed on Powell Drive this past August.

“The crosswalk is meant to give pedestrians safe access across the road,” said Doyle. “Unfortunately, we can’t control the speed of individual drivers. The onus is on individual drivers to slow down for pedestrians.”

The crosswalk allows residents to pass Powell Drive near the intersection of White’s Road and Industrial Crescent near the Shell gas station.

Doyle asked whether the Town could add some portable speed display signs in the area to further encourage drivers to slow down in the area.

“When people have a visual that they’re speeding, they should slow down before they even get to the crosswalk,” said Doyle. “I can only speak for myself, but if I see those on the Veterans (Highway) or the TransCanada, and you’re going a little bit over, you slow down. It’s a good visual for people.”

Deputy Mayor Sam Slade said he thought the crosswalk was a marvellous addition. While a number of accidents have taken place over the years at the intersection, Slade said, a traffic study may be advisable before installing any signs.

“So, if a speed sign can be put there, the first thing you’ll have to do is figure out if speeding is going on there,” said Slade.

Public Works Director Ian Farrell, who noted the Town does have a speed radar that collects data at the intersection, said the problem lies in the nature of the road itself, as Powell Drive is a collector road that channels traffic onto the town’s main arterial, Columbus Drive.

“Normally, you wouldn’t intervene with traffic calming because of the intended use of that road,” said Farrell, who added he will investigate the matter further, though he isn’t sure that speeding signs would do much to deter speeding.

“The traffic radar with the display, generally speaking that’s not a traffic calming device,” said Farrell. “It might slow down some people, but the people who are going really fast are the ones that don’t care. They’re going to try and get those numbers up to 99 before they pass it.”

Regardless, Doyle said, more can probably be done.

“If an accident happens at that crosswalk, the onus is on the drivers,” said Doyle. “People have got to slow down. I go through that intersection many times a day, and many times a week, and people are flying in both directions. But I can’t help but feel that if there was a visual, it might be a small step that we could take to prevent something.”

There was some further discussion on the effectiveness of different traffic calming measures across the town and what might be a good fit for the intersection, and in the end council decided to leave the matter with Farrell to investigate further.