Writing about the community you grew up in means sometimes coming face to face with things you already knew.
Like the dangers of being a pedestrian in the Cardston Court area of Burnaby.
Cardston is located just south of Lougheed Highway near Lougheed Town Centre and I lived for several years at the corner of Cardston and Government Street, next to Keswick Park.
This was the scene of a wild rollover crash that saw a pedestrian get hit and I wasn’t the least bit surprised.
Neither was Vicki Sanderson, who brought the crash to my attention to raise awareness about how dangerous this area is for pedestrians, cyclists and even other drivers.
“(The driver) lost control of his vehicle, hit a parked car, which ended up in the park, but not before hitting a young woman walking her dog,” Sanderson said.
And this wasn’t the first incident, only the most recent. Two weeks ago, Sanderson saw another scary incident.
“A speeding car coming down Cardston Court saw a green light, turned left and hit a woman in the crosswalk. This is not unusual on this street - speeding and reckless driving is a huge problem. We have many families who walk these streets down to the park and how long before we have a fatality? Small children and speeding cars? What can the city do? Speed bumps? Seriously needs some consideration.”
I wouldn’t hold my breath for speed bumps. Usually, those have to be resident-initiated and it’s hard to get people to sign a petition.
But it really is a bad area, mainly due to all the ratrunners on Government trying to avoid Lougheed. This stretch also has some steep turns and drivers floor it after they cross Lougheed. The lanes are also really narrow because their are usually vehicles parked on either side of Cardston.
These lanes are pretty unforgiving.
I saw so much of that around 1990 when I lived there and it’s sad to think that things have actually gotten worse in the area.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
