Re: Story in the Dec. 8 edition of The NEWS (‘Worked up about speeding’).
In response to the query as to why the RCMP do not do more to enforce the speed limits in Parksville, I was given an answer in the summer of 2015 when I called the RCMP to complain about the speeding cars on Morison Avenue between McMillan and Finholm streets.
“There is only one officer assigned to traffic daily and his/her hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.” You cannot set up a radar trap with only one officer. Do not think reducing the speed on Chestnut Street would help. The speed limit on Morison is already 40 km, but some drivers ignore it.
The officer then told me if I had actual licence plate numbers, makes, models and colours of cars they would be able to respond to my complaint. I sat for hours in my car that summer to record this information. I dropped the list off at the RCMP station. The dispatcher asked if I wanted a callback. I said I did. I am still waiting for that call.
My next step was to call the engineering department at city hall to see how I would proceed to have traffic-calming cushions installed on Morison. I was told the homeowners on Humphrey Road were required to collect 250 signatures on a petition and wait five years before they were installed.
I created a petition on www.change.org entitled “Parksville B.C. Traffic Calming Cushions.” I posted notices in all the condos, townhouses and apartment complexes in this two-block area asking people to sign the petition. A copy of the letter was emailed to the mayor. It only generated 22 signatures.
I am very frustrated. I believe the only solution is for the City of Parksville to provide the RCMP with a higher annual budget to hire more officers. I am worried it is going to take another pedestrian fatality before any positive action occurs.
Janice Azotini
Parksville