Garrison Green residents take to the streets to ask drivers to slow down
Some residents of Garrison Green want drivers to slow down in their southwest community — so they're spending the morning trying to catch the attention of speeders with an awareness event.
Paul Bourassa said he and several others have been complaining to the city about the problem for five years. But despite their persistence, the city is not moving fast enough to make his community safer, he said.
Residents feel the entrance to Garrison Green should be a 30 km/h zone, but the city has it zoned as a 50 km/h.
"Most of our neighbours are very respectful and they respect playground zones and the 50 km/hr speed limit," he said.
But Bourassa said many drivers cruise through the neighbourhood at speeds above the limit, then cut corners tightly in order to maintain speed. He said his fear is someone in the family-friendly community is going to get hurt, or worse.
So on Wednesday morning, a group of community members will stand at the entrance to Garrison Green on Forand Street, holding signs and radar guns to raise awareness.
"Just to remind people to slow down. An extra few minutes late to work or whatever is not worth potentially having an accident with either another vehicle or a person," Bourassa said.
Tony Churchill, senior traffic engineer with the City of Calgary, said the city has been working with the community and is in the process of installing traffic-calming measures.
"In terms of collisions, we know that collisions in Garrison Green are relatively low compared to city-wide numbers, but we do recognize that moderating speed is important," Churchill said.
The city is looking at a measure that would reduce the speed in all city neighbourhoods to 30 km/h.
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