Sue Knight and several other parents at Newton’s Woodward Hill Elementary school have asked the City of Surrey for a safe crossing for their kids.
There’s an extremely dangerous corner, Knight says, at 60 Avenue and 142 Street, that needs a controlled crossing.
On Tuesday, at about 8:45 a.m., Knight’s fears unfolded before her and her Grade 1 daughter.
Police believe a red Toyota Corolla heading southbound on 142 Street blew a stop sign and collided with a van.
The van rolled over into a ditch, while several passengers of the Toyota were taken to hospital. One of them was airlifted to Royal Columbian with head injuries. All are expected to make complete recoveries.
Knight and other parents have called city hall in the past about getting a controlled crossing at the intersection, but not much has been done.
“It’s scary for us, we haven’t got attention from city hall yet,” she said.
Engineering crews have been on site to perform traffic measurements, Knight said, but further action is slow.
“They’re just not moving on it,” she said. “Apparently, there were three accidents in three weeks, right there.”
Part of the problem is the fact drivers are using 60 Avenue as a main thoroughfare, said the mom.
“The cars on 60 Avenue are driving fast, like a highway,” Knight said. “It’s summer school right now, right about the time kids are being dropped off.”
Police at the scene Tuesday said they would be forwarding their accident report to the City of Surrey engineering department.
Jaime Boan, Surrey’s manager of transportation, said staff have known about the problem corner for a while. He has enlisted the help of a traffic safety specialist to determine the best next steps at the intersection.
He expects to know in about a month what those will be, and will act on them “as soon as possible.”
The city’s intention is to eventually install a roundabout at that location.
