It must be the nature of that part of 232nd Street, with its hills and the curves, that encourages motorists to step on it.
Whatever the reason, Ryan Hutchinson is tired of it.
Since he moved into his place in the 11800-block of 232nd Street nine years ago, he’s seen motorists screaming up and down the hills, using the undulations in the road as launching pads and ignoring the speed limits.
At least six accidents that he knows of have happened on the stretch of road that leads from Kanaka Way and Lougheed Highway, up to Dewdney Trunk Road.
And when motorists misjudge their speed or distance, they end up on the grass in front of Hutchinson’s townhouse complex.
“They’re flying from the top and you can hear them flying down and up. I don’t let my kids out in that front area.
“Everyone knows there’s no speed trap there.”
Hutchinson has called the RCMP, who’ve talked to him. But so far, he’s seen no extra enforcement. He’s also collected a petition of several pages, calling for speed bumps, although he’s not sure where he’ll send it.
“What they can do there is some kind of enforcement,” he said.
Three schools are also in the area, meaning kids are on sidewalks and roads walking to and from school, and there are tennis courts nearby.
The speeders get particularly bad during the summer as people rush to the lake.
The road offers direct connection as 232nd Street that leads from Lougheed Highway, across Dewdney Trunk Road to Golden Ears Provincial Park.
Ridge Meadows RCMP have said they’ve received no particular complaints about the road and aren’t focusing enforcement efforts on it.
But that’s because they don’t live there, says Hutchinson.
“It’s a matter of time before some kid gets killed. I want something done before something bad happens.”
A Ridge Meadows RCMP spokesman said police have been doing more enforcement on the intersection of Kanaka Way and Lougheed Highway, one of the most dangerous in the City of Maple Ridge.
That extra enforcement in the last year has reduced the number of crashes, he added.
RCMP also regularly target westbound vehicles speeding up Lougheed Highway from Kanaka Way as the speed limit drops down to 50 km/h.
