While residents of Allard Crescent say something needs to be done about speeding along the quiet country road near Derby Reach Regional Park, the Township of Langley sees things differently.
In response to a Langley Advance Times query, the Township communication department provided a written statement that said there were no plans to install additional signage on the road.
Allard Crescent, it said, “is classified as a ‘Minor Collector Road’ pursuant to the Township’s Master Transportation Plan.”
Two Township traffic surveys along Allard Crescent in January and June 2019 found the route was averaging 995 vehicles per day and most of those drivers, 85 per cent, were doing 65.2 km/h or less, and the average speed was 55.6 km/h.
“Based on this information, there are currently no plans for installation of additional signage on Allard Crescent,” it concluded.
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Greg Drew, who lives on Allard and has been campaigning for speed reduction measures, questioned the decision to use January counts.
“Tell me how many [speeding] cars are coming in the winter?” Drew commented.
“Not many.”
Drew and his neighbours maintain the number of people driving down the road has skyrocketed, many of them are going well over the speed limit.
They have suggested the Township, at a minimum, could install automatic reader boards that display the speed of oncoming vehicles and warn when a driver is over the limit, as a way of boosting awareness and reducing speed.
Another issue is large trucks Drew said are tearing up the road, an issue he maintains the Township has not been willing to discuss.
Other residents who spoke with the Langley Advance Times said some form of traffic calming is needed because Allard is popular with owners of speedy cars and motorcycles looking for a chance to go fast on a winding road, well-removed from urban areas and police speed traps.
READ ALSO: LETTER: More speed enforcement needed in North Langley
Drew and his neighbours say they have asked the Township to install speed bumps, and to have radar traps set up, to little avail.
Allard used to have speed bumps, they recall, but they disappeared when the road was re-paved several years ago, without explanation being given.
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For Drew, who has lost a son and a stepson to speeding, the issue is personal.
Drew launched a non-profit group to campaign against unsafe driving, Jammin’ 4 Jay, after his 17-year-old son, Jay died in 2003 after he lost control on a corner and slammed his Eagle Talon into a tree at a high rate of speed.
In 2015, his stepson Evan Archibald, 22, died when a jeep driven by a 17-year-old at a high rate of speed ran into the bus stop where Archibald was standing in Surrey.
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
