Girl hit by SUV

[playhard2010]

To the mother of the girl hit by the SUV I am very sorry to hear that and it looks like a very unfortunate accident, positive thoughts your way!!!! But if you already have speed humps you should not complain about needing upgrades...Glenrosa area Webber Rd/ McIver Rd are the areas that need safety improvements more than anywhere else in west kelowna. I personally witness (as I am typing even) people flying down McIver road in excess of 80km+ all day and all night and it is rediculous. There is an elementary school and a middle school at either end of Mciver/webber and the kids do not even have a road shoulder to walk on let alone the roads are half the width they should be in most spots. Webber has a bike lane now at least. McIver has nothing at all. It is only a matter of time til somebody is injured badly up here again. So if any district workers see this can you please fix our roads. Speed humps would even be a huge help!!! Cheers

[gordon_as]

Feeling terrible about a child being hurt . Police say traffic was moving very slow . The parent complaining about the lack of a sidewalk is a valid concern , however , a child running out from between parked cars could happen with or without a sidewalk.

[dodgerdodge]

Child running out from behind parked car is the big issue here. Regardless of sidewalks, speed humps and school slow signs children need a safe place to cross and need to be taught how to cross roads safely. It is imperative that they learn from a young age that cars versus people is always bad for the person and sometimes fatal.
Basic rule of crossing the street is do so where you can clearly be seen, preferably on a marked crosswalk and always wait for traffic to stop, never cross from behind a parked vehicle/object/blind corner or anywhere that doesn't have clear sightlines of approaching cars.
Lets stop assuming that pedestrians have right of way and cars must stop because sometimes they don't through no fault of the driver.
I do hope that she makes a full recovery from this and that we can all learn a lesson in road safety.

[underscore]

Lets stop assuming that pedestrians have right of way and cars must stop because sometimes they don't through no fault of the driver.

Agreed, I've seen quite a few near misses from this.

[Fancy]

I really don't know what more can be done on Shannon Place nor how sidewalks there would help if kids dart across the street.

[shannonlakedave]

First off, I hope for a speedy and full recovery the injured child and her family. I also feel for the driver as, if this is as described in the Castanet report, this certainly was a tragic accident.

As a long term SL resident who participates in the local residents association I would like to put some perspective to the traffic situation at the Shannon Lake Elementary School. The SL Elementary School is has proven quite popular and attracts students from beyond the immediate neighbourhood. Even with a recent major addition it is over capacity - which does not help with traffic. And, the catchment area geography makes it difficult for many to walk to school and with no geographically reasonable school bus system we get excessive traffic. The area is popular with families and it keeps growing so safe access to the school will always be a School and neighbourhood priority.

During school drop-off/pick-up Shannon Place and Shannon Ridge experiences a full on traffic jam and no one can drive quickly through this area during these times. Parents park wherever they can shoehorn in. This includes around the corners and in front of peoples driveways obscuring the stop signs and site lines. They also tend to be a bit distracted if you observe them as many talk and text on cell phones during the process. Add to the fact that kids are kids and at an elementary school many of them are quite little and still learning the coping reflexes required in a world with cars and other mechanized hazards. The situation described with this accident has played out many, many, times as near misses around elementary schools but fortunately without such dire results.

A couple of years ago a neighborhood traffic meeting was held at the SL school, from this meeting the municipality agreed to hire a traffic Consultant with "expertise" on these issues to specifically address trying to improve this situation. A traffic study was conducted and a second neighborhood meeting was held to present it. From this process a traffic calming and safety plan for this part of SL was developed (to be implemented as funds and political priorities will allow). A bit of the history on the process in the SL neighbourhood is on the SLNA website http://www.shannonlake.org. As of writing, and since this study, Shannon Ridge has now had sidewalks installed across from the school, school zone signage has been installed, traffic humps have been added, and, within the next couple of weeks, as part of the 2013 DWK roads program, the municipality is re-configuring the Shannon Place/Shannon Ridge intersection to restrict the size of it. This will improve site lines and prevent some of the drop offs from blocking or obscuring the actual intersection while waiting for their children. Also, currently the DWK is installing sidewalk up Shannon Way (and should be connecting it along Woodstock next year) to access the school from the south side. Plus the sidewalk along Shannon Lake Road is being extended from Tallus to the Regional Park entrance to help Tallus students and parents to safely walk from that side of the neighbourhood through the park and to the school. Not everyone thinks enough has been done or enough money has been spent (and we all are armchair traffic engineers) but the traffic and pedestrian safety situation in this area has been improving.

To Playhard2010 and others who have concerns in their particular neighbourhoods, including SL residents, I would suggest that you get involved with your Neighbourhood Association (they are listed on the DWK website). Most Associations would welcome and support anyone who has the gumption to help carry the flag to Council on a legitimate neighbourhood issue such as traffic or pedestrian safety. The DWK Council has become very approachable to these associations regarding traffic issues in the municipality and are starting to put some real resources into starting to solve them. The Associations seem to be a very good way to lobby the cause with Council and get some action. It has been a plodding but linear process and the SL Neighbourhood has been seeing tangible improvements.

[mexi cali]

The new speed bumps on Shannon Ridge drive in the school zone are basically ineffective as far as I can see. They are very gently sloped which means that drivers can basically not slow down as there is no hard felt impact on a car.

They have been installed on part of Auburn Rd. as well and same deal. I have watched countless cars not miss a beat.

Right idea. Poor execution.

Not that this would likely have helped in tis case but just a perspective on the situation as a whole.

[Steve-O]

Great post Shannonlakedave.

I like the improvements. I also like the fact the school is using pylons to mark off the corner at Shannon Ridge and Ridge Place.

My children had a letter sent home with them for parents to sit down with them and review traffic safety. Like Dave points out, an elementary school has many young kids still learning about the world and how to be safe. Parents don't have this excuse! The note should of stated something to the effect: "Put your damn phone away for 2 minutes, pay attention and slow down around the school. The world will wait for you to drop your child off safely and clear the area you selfish git!"

The note also mentioned a RCMP constable will be on site for the next several weeks to assist and help educate drivers. I'm hoping this means teach a lesson via their pocketbooks. No warnings. go for the jugular.

[Bsuds]

Double the fine if you are on your phone in a School Zone!

I would prefer it had the same penalty as drunk driving and lose their cars for a few days etc.

[tonyrippon]

Thanks Shannonlakedave for the info. You are quite right, there have been some well needed improvements to the areas and i'm sure that residents appreciate them.

It would be great to teach the kids to cross the road at crosswalks around Shannon place/Ridge but we seem to be short of crosswalks.
Not having a sidewalk on the same side of the school down to the intersection seems very odd and apparently its not going to happen for a long time. The kids negotiate their walk home around parked cars and are putting themselves at enormous risk of not being seen every time they make that walk. Like Shannonlakedave mentioned, the cars parked on corners and by the signage increases the risk of accidents and makes driving hazardous and are impacting the safety of the kids. Shame on those parents who persistently park their cars there!

On the speed bump issue, I know they are not finished yet and I understand that they got the design wrong, so they needed to whack a bit more asphalt onto them for a poor quality patch up job, but they just don't seems to be consistently designed. The bumps approaching the intersection are noticeably shallower than others and have little affect on vehicles that have figured that out and now roar over them first thing in the morning without spilling a drop of their Timmie's or peddle down on the way home. It does make you wonder about competence of the contractors responsible for the bump project when they lay asphalt over the school signage without first removing it and all that patchwork that has happened.
I hope that I'm jumping the gun here and the professionals already know about these issues and the finish and effectiveness of the bumps improve.

Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before there was an accident in the area. Its so busy and congested in this area with not many options for the kids to safely navigate home.

I hope that the little girl gets well soon!

[mommyforlife]

My heart breaks for both the driver and the little girl. I have driven up and down that road several times! I cannot tell you how many times a child has jumped right out and tried to cross the street. I think a child that's in Grade 1 is to young to be coming home on their own! I think the parents need to take some responsibility here. A couple of weeks ago, I was dropping my kids off at the school. This kid in Grade 5 was walking along side of my vehicle and proceeded to walk right in front. I yelled at the top of my lungs! I spoke to him and found out where he lived. I knocked on the door and told his mom that their are crosswalks where he needs to walk up to and cross over to the school. She said they were new to the school. Ever since that "talk" I have seen her walk him to the crosswalk and safely to the school. Again, glad to hear the girl is recovering, my heart goes out to the driver and the parents need to start supervising their young kids a little more!

[dodgerdodge]

Doesn't make any sense to me at all, why do we have "family friendly" sub divisions with schools within walking distance but we cannot build sidewalks along all roads on both sides? What is the reason behind it? If you live in a rural community out in the sticks then you cannot expect too much but in a modern sub division with street lights and schools.

The district tells us that we are not far enough out to warrant taking the school bus so we must make kids walk or they have to be driven. If they walk its anyones guess if they will arrive safe without properly lit pathways and crossings but if they are driven where do the parents park?
My son was not far enough away from Boucherie to get the bus which meant a walk along Westlake road with its dangerous twists and turns and no footpaths at all. There is a brand new school coming in Rose Valley for next year but will we see any changes to Westlake Road? In our sub division sidewalks are on one side of a road that is full of parked cars. If you live on the opposite side it means inevitably crossing between parked vehicles to get to the path or from path to house.

[Fancy]

Doesn't make any sense to me at all, why do we have "family friendly" sub divisions with schools within walking distance but we cannot build sidewalks along all roads on both sides?

Keep in mind the area was built before the school was put in.

[Steve-O]

I believe changes to Westlake Rd are being planned. There was a thread about this earlier this year, I'm too lazy to go find it but do recall the discussion.

[Raven1]

The note also mentioned a RCMP constable will be on site for the next several weeks to assist and help educate drivers. I'm hoping this means teach a lesson via their pocketbooks. No warnings. go for the jugular.

How be the RCMP give the children some education on the danger of not paying attention. Educate them on the proper way to cross a street and the potential for injury/death when darting in and out of parked cars. Enough with the coddling already.