Port Moody's traffic safety committee will be looking at ways to improve safety on Gatensbury Street.
A group of Gatensbury residents were at Tuesday's council meeting to lobby for changes to the steep, winding street, much as they did five years ago. Many of the concerns remain the same — no sidewalks or shoulder to walk on, speeding vehicles in both directions, out-of-control cars flying into front yards — but now the residents have lost their mail delivery as well because of the dangerous conditions.
"They did not move on to a dangerous road," said Gatensbury resident Lori Holdenried of herself and her neighbours. "The road became dangerous because of inaction over many years."
In her presentation Holdenried noted the last traffic tests, done in 2010, showed the collector road — the only one in the city without sidewalks — was handling 6,000 vehicles daily, going an average of 58 km/h despite the 30 km/h speed limit. The coming Evergreen Line and associated development in the area is likely to exacerbate the problem, she added.
And if sidewalks aren't possible, Holdenried suggested installing a walking path, banning truck traffic or finding a way to do traffic enforcement.
But Mayor Mike Clay said traffic calming measures could have unintended consequences.
"We can't change the fact the road is what it is," he said, adding that building curbs and sidewalks just generates more traffic. The additional stormwater management work could also mean a $10-million bill to fix Gatensbury, Clay said.
"What sidewalks do…is it allows for a wider range of traffic calming," Holdenried said, including the ability to narrow the road where need, install boulevards and bumps. "Without sidewalks it's very limited."
The lack of sidewalks has also meant the residents have lost their door-to-door mail delivery. They first noticed the lack of mail last month and were later told by Canada Post that the route was deemed too dangerous and community mailboxes would be installed at the top of Gatensbury.
In Holdenried's presentation she read a message from their carrier, who said the day he reported the conditions to his supervisor was the day he was almost hit by a speeding truck.
"I have been delivering the mail for almost 18 years and I have never considered stopping delivery," he wrote. "I feel very badly for everyone affected, but I hope you can see I just want to come home to my three kids and my wife every night."
Holdenried has also started a Facebook page to bring both Port Moody and Coquitlam residents on the street together.
Council members expressed their support for Gatensbury residents and unanimously agreed to a motion to have traffic safety on the street added to the traffic safety committee's 2016 work plan.
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