A recent column about the problems with Duthie Avenue North Burnaby brought in an avalanche of responses.
Some people were mad at me for calling it a “ratrunner” route because they felt that was insulting to drivers who use it.
“I disagree saying travellers are ‘Notorious Ratrunners,’” wrote Don Anderson in a letter. “We're just trying to commute. Where does everyone get the idea that everyone is speeding, causing some horrific safety concern?”
Well, part of the reason is that so many drivers do, in fact, speed on these quiet residential streets, putting people at great risk.
People like Rob P., who lives along Duthie and is fed up with it being a race track for drivers heading north and south.
“I live on Duthie Ave myself and I am quite concerned by the safety on the streets,” Rob said. “I live on a corner with a crosswalk that leads to and from Lochdale school and in addition to the excessive speeding, the number of times cars speed through the crosswalk when occupied or pass cars on the right who are turning left or stopped for pedestrians is quite concerning. I mentioned this to the city in December of 2019 and their response was to put in place a single (post).” (You can see it in the photo above.
“The problem that Duthie poses is that it is visually a wide and open street that is straight with few intersections. It literally is a drag strip between Kitchener and Halifax. This gives speeders a false sense of security. My suggestion is to narrow Duthie, especially at the crosswalks, with bump outs. This would remove some of that sense of openness and also prevent passing on the right at crosswalks.”
That, of course, sounds like a great idea, but the city isn’t going for it, as documented by the single post.
The NOW has written before about Duthie Avenue, but in relation to the far north end of the street, which is used by ratrunners to find a quicker way to get onto the Barnet.
“Quality of life is not enjoyable, listening to the traffic continuously,” Audrey Flagel told the NOW in 2018. “I might as well be sitting on a highway.”
In the six years she’s lived in the housing complex between Duthie Avenue and Barnet Highway, Flagel said the amount of traffic has increased dramatically. Commuters take Duthie to access Barnet via Ridge Drive, she says.
It’s the high volume and speeds of vehicles on Duthie that bothers Flagel and her neighbours, 40 of whom signed a petition presented to the City of Burnaby’s public safety committee asking that the access to the Barnet be closed off so ratrunners won’t cut through.
“We've become an extension of Barnet Highway,” she said. “When I open my windows, it feels like the traffic is coming through my place.”
That request was turned down.
Now, residents on the far south side of Duthie are asking the City of Burnaby to make some changes to slow down these drivers, including speed humps.
In response to one resident, the city responded with an email that was provided to me. The city noted said speed humps won’t be happening.
“As per the City’s policy, the speed humps are placed only on local residential streets and at non bus routes,” wrote a traffic technician. “Duthie Ave is classified as Major collector and is a bus route too therefore speed humps cannot be placed.”
The email also rejects the request for additional signage, but also puts the focus of any solutions on police and residents.
“The speeding concerns that you have largely relate to driver behaviour. In these circumstances, Police enforcement is one of the more effective remedies, but they are subject to available resources and priorities. In addition, the poor driver behaviour you witness on your street probably occurs at many other locations by the same driver making the same infractions. As speeding is a compliance issue that is best dealt through enforcement, we suggest you contact RCMP at their non-emergency number 604-646-9999 to request enforcement.”
“It's so demoralizing getting an email like that from the city,” one resident told me.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
