Residents of any streets are usually quite aware how fast drivers travel in front of their home, whether extra care is needed when navigating on and around their block and whether specific issues are concerning them.
The residents who live near the Trans Canada Highway end of Goldstream Avenue believe something needs to be done on their stretch of road. We applaud them for being willing to speak out about their concerns.
People go too fast for the conditions, they say, which leads to dangerous situations both for pedestrians and for residents pulling out of their driveways.
The City of Langford has acknowledged there are problems with the roadway and that they are looking into changing the configuration so drivers looking to go into Langford from the highway are routed onto Leigh Road instead.
City officials say planning and implementing such a change will take time, but residents say it’s taken a long time already. And with the traffic death on the road earlier this year of Meesha-Chan Grubisic still fresh in their minds, a decision on what to do with the vexing roadway can’t come soon enough for the residents.
The point is, Goldstream Avenue, at the east end, was not designed to carry the amount of traffic that comes off the highway these days. It’s far too narrow, with little in the way of shoulders for pedestrians or cyclists to use.
A speed reader posted a short distance down Goldstream for drivers exiting the highway, who are already forced to slow down as they enter the road, reminds people of their speed. But the need to pay close attention to one’s surroundings are equally important there.
An example of that came Sunday, when two motorcycles were involved in a collision on that section of road. With a car pulled over into the narrow shoulder, one bike rider slowed down to go around. The other apparently didn’t notice what was happening quickly enough and ploughed into the first bike.
There’s no one answer for this conundrum, but we would encourage the city to continue working on a better system that allows residents of those blocks to feel safer on their street. They deserve it, like we all do.