Eagle Harbour Pedestrian Upgrade Proposal
The Eagle Harbour community has recently blossomed into one that needs to upgrade its walkability infrastructure. The once empty school now has a waiting list and a higher number of kids walking to school. With an increased and more complex mix of bicycles, buses, cars and pedestrians all negotiating Marine Drive, Westport Road and surrounding area. The outdated car centric network of roads is a recipe for disaster and we know what happened on the Stanley Park causeway last year, which has lead to separated bike and pedestrian lane upgrades. Let’s get ahead of an accident in our community and champion walkability for all.
Pages from the plan:
In addition to the widely reported problem of vehicles exceeding the posted 30 km speed limit in and around Eagle Harbour Montessori School, there’s mounting evidence of extremely dangerous driving in our area:
• “Vulnerable road user” incidents (involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists) in the Marine Drive Corridor have increased 350% in the past year.
• Distracted driving incidents throughout the district have increased 60% year over year.
• More than 100 serious traffic incidents (collisions and DUIs) within a .5 mile radius of Eagle Harbour Montessori School in the past five years.
Sources: WVPD COMPSTAT and RAIDS Online
This initiative comes with the endorsement of these community groups.
Eagle Harbour Montessori Parent Advisory Council
On November 3, 2015, the Eagle Harbour Pedestrian Upgrade Proposal was presented and discussed at a meeting of the Eagle Harbour Parent Advisory Council (PAC) and received unanimous support from its members. Attendees shared stories of speeding cars narrowly missing young children, distracted drivers barreling through crosswalks, and local families opting to drive to school because they simply feel unsafe on foot. The Eagle Harbour PAC feels there is a dire need for traffic calming in Eagle Harbour and hopes that the City of West Vancouver will be proactive in addressing this important issue.
Eagle Harbour Service Association
This proposal has the support of Scotty Uchacz Brownlie, President, and is on the agenda to be discussed at the December 2015 meeting of the EHSA.