It鈥檚 Vernon鈥檚 version of the Brickyard in Indianapolis, home to the Indy 500 auto race.
So says Gord Nuyens of the stretch of Okanagan Avenue between Fulton Road and Okanagan Landing Road (a 50 kilometre zone). Nuyens has lived there since 1970 with a front-row view to motorists speeding, or veering around wildlife that have made their way onto the road.
鈥淐hildren walking to and from Ellison and Fulton schools are at great risk due to the over 100 km/hour speeders, swerving to miss deer, on the very narrow, winding, dangerous road,鈥� said Nuyens, 75. 鈥淲e and our loved ones and pets are also in jeopardy just picking up our daily mail and weekly paper.鈥�
Across the avenue from Nuyens is Anne Miller, who has been at her residence on Okanagan for seven years. She doesn鈥檛 go for morning walks with a friend anymore because 鈥渋t鈥檚 too scary.鈥�
Miller lost her golden retriever service dog which was killed on the road, and she said two neighbours鈥� cats were hit and killed in the last three years. She also can鈥檛 count the number of birds that have died.
There was also the time, she said, a car pulled out to pass a motorcycle and, in doing so, 鈥減assed so close to a friend walking on the roadside, the slip stream pulled her onto the road.鈥� A very narrow miss, said Miller, who was also pulled onto the road when a driver swerved.
鈥淭his stretch of road is used as a short cut and faster route by people living to the west of the area,鈥� said Miller. 鈥淔ewer lights, less police presence, less traffic makes this route preferable for people going to and from Okanagan Landing.
鈥淚 used to drive this route often before living here and always slowed down to enjoy the rural feel and beauty of the area. Slowing down is now dangerous as the speeders pass slower vehicles and, in doing so, go even faster.鈥�
Nuyens, Miller and a dozen other residences of that stretch of Okanagan Avenue have asked Vernon council to consider putting in calming mechanisms, like speed bumps, or even a stop light (Okanagan Landing Road has four stop lights, said Nuyens).
Both requests have been turned down.
In a letter to Nuyens, Mayor Victor Cumming said the city follows national transportation engineering guidelines for adjusting intersection control from stop control to signalization. The City of Vernon, he said, recently finished a network screening study in collaboration with ICBC to identify the top priority intersections for safety improvements.
The study says there are no plans to convert intersections to lights along Okanagan Avenue at this time. Nor will there be speed bumps placed along the road.
鈥淎s per the City of Vernon鈥檚 neighbourhood traffic management policy 鈥� which can be found on the city鈥檚 website 鈥� the city does not install speed humps on city streets, except where warranted in the downtown core,鈥� said Cumming.
The city passed along the residents鈥� concerns to the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP.
Travelling east from Okanagan Avenue to Fulton Road, the speed limit is 50 km/h at The Oaks housing complex. Motorists then get a windy road 40 km/h sign, followed by a narrow structure sign near Elephant Storage. A double curve sign is next, indicating the road goes to the left and, finally, there鈥檚 a 50 km/h speed sign before Fulton Road.
Going west, there are two 50 km/h speed limit signs, a barrier road sign, a narrow structure sign, the double curve sign past Elephant Storage, encouraging speed to be reduced to 40 km/h, a barrier sign at Longacre Road, and a stop sign ahead sign approaching Okanagan Landing Road.
