Concerned Lund residents are worried about the number of speeders blasting along Highway 101 and into the village.
Ann Snow operates SunLund-by-the-Sea Campground and is a medical first responder with the Northside Volunteer Fire Department. She said the problem goes back at least three years ago when the old Lund Elementary School was converted into Lund Community Centre.
With the number of pedestrians, young and old, walking along Highway 101, the residents requested a 30-kilometre per hour speed zone be placed as drivers approach the village just south of Larson Road.
“That was put up, but there wasn’t ever any enforcement,” she said, adding that the 30-kilometre zone “gets completely ignored,” with people “coming over the blind hill doing 80 kilometres per hour.”
Of particular concern for Snow and her friend Lori Burges are the children and their parents walking to the ORCA (On the Road with Children’s Activities) Bus, which parks in the Lund Community Centre parking lot.
Christine Parsons, who coordinates the ORCA Bus program for Success by 6, said that the level of speeding concerns her as well and she encourages drivers to slow down.
Over the years, Snow has heard of people having close calls and dogs being hit there. “It’s just a matter of time before a kid gets hit,” she said.
She added that the stretch of road is dangerous for anyone turning onto the highway from Larson. A couple of years ago, while driving a fire truck with lights flashing, she was almost broadsided by a speeding pickup truck.
Snow said to the best of her knowledge, nothing has been done to rectify the problem. A year ago she wrote a letter on behalf of Jim Brown, Northside fire chief, to the Powell River RCMP to request more enforcement of the reduced speed zone.
“We’re trying to be proactive...but nothing is being done,” she said. Snow wonders what it will take for more attention to be put on enforcement.
She said it is possible people do not see the sign and perhaps having a larger speed limit sign with zebra strips might help to make it more visible to drivers.
The Peak contacted the RCMP about the level of speeding and was told that the local detachment “continues to conduct patrols and enforce traffic regulations.”
“We try to do as much enforcement as we can,” said Constable Tim Kenning, “but the obvious restriction is that it’s in Lund.”
Kenning said it is also an issue of reach for a medium-sized detachment. “We don’t have 25 members working at any given time,” he said.
Additional enforcement in Lund, however, is included when the Integrated Road Safety Unit from Vancouver Island travels to Powell River.
