Slow down, you live here
A cheeky but serious-minded effort is underway in a West Kelowna neighbourhood to encourage drivers to slow down.
More than 20 signs have been placed along Campbell Road with messages urging a lighter a touch on the gas pedal.
Slow Down, Happiness is Trying to Catch You, Life is a Journey, Not a Race, and This is a Neighbourhood, Not a Race Track, are among the messages on the signs.
The signs were paid for and installed by the Casa Loma Residents Association, whose members have expressed some frustration with what they see as the city’s reluctance to install traffic-calming measures along the road.
“We’re trying to get people to slow down with messages that we hope are positive, impactful, and maybe a little bit cheeky,” Shirley Pacholok of the association said Thursday.
Erected a week ago, the signs are already having the desired effect, Pacholok said.
“I think they are working,” she said. “We wanted to have a diversity of messages, not just one, because you never know which one will get a person’s attention and encourage them to slow down.”
Association members asked city council earlier this year, as they have done before, for the municipality to install traffic-calming measures on the road.
Council declined, saying there was mixed research on the effectiveness of traffic-calming initiatives. Councillors also noted Campbell Road is a dead-end street, with most traffic generated by people who live in the neighbourhood.
“There is a real need for neighbours to realize the environment they are driving in and practise safe driving measures in those areas,” Coun. Stephen Johnston said at the time.
A speed reader board owned by the municipality is in place on Campbell Road. Association members will ask the city in a few weeks time to retrieve data from the device, to see if traffic speeds have declined.