I am writing to you to express my deep concern about the overbearing traffic situation on Wood Avenue in Armstrong.
I purchased a home on Wood Avenue in 1989.
It was fairly quiet at that time – and in the years thereafter (despite the presence of Home Hardware’s lumber yard across the street).
However, over the past decade or so there has been a rather frenetic traffic increase (in volume and pace) bordering on what one can only describe as FRANTIC.
This traffic increase can be attributed to the unbridled development licensed without the forethought of proper infrastructure to contend with the situation.
Consequently, on average, vehicles turn off of Mill Street onto Wood Avenue and put the pedal to the metal – often passing each other in the process – and have turned a “heart of country” roadway into a highway.
They see no reason why not to gun it – there are no speeding signs posted, no speed bumps to deter them, no stop sign at the halfway point to Okanagan Avenue, no occasional police presence to remind them to slow down – nothing but an open-ended invitation to gun it!
And they do just that.
It goes without saying this is dangerous; an accident waiting to happen.
For those of us who like to walk in the community with grandchildren and little ones, crossing at the alleyway between Home Hardware and Puetter’s Tire Craft is like taking one’s life into one’s hands.
There isn’t so much as a stop sign or a crosswalk – nothing to encourage pedestrians who would like to walk in the community and experience its rural ambiance with a sense of security.
We would take this opportunity to invite mayor and council – along with a few members of the local constabulary (with their radar guns), to join us in our front yard for tea and crumpets on a day or evening of their choosing.
A first-hand experience might help broaden the understanding, inform future decision making and help regulate the situation, in a sensible and responsible manner before it gets any further out of hand.
Dorianne Kohl