Paradise traffic detour causing safety risks, headaches for residents

A Paradise mother is concerned for the safety of her children now that her usually quiet neighbourhood has been turned into a major thoroughfare.

Lindsay Gosse lives on Stanhope Drive, one of the streets near Octagon Pond, where traffic is being rerouted because of a construction detour.

"It's kind of like the 401. It's nonstop bumper to bumper, 24 hours a day," she told the St. John;s Morning Show's Cecil Haire Wednesday.

"Everything going from CBS to town is going through this street."

Gosse said she is afraid to let her children play outside because of how many fast-moving vehicles are now moving through her residential street.

She said just getting out of her own driveway to start the commute to work is becoming harder and harder each day.

"Yesterday it took me four-and-a-half minutes to get a break to pull out on the road," she said.

"They don't seem to like to slow down or stop."

Unhappy with town's handling of situation

Gosse said while she understands that road work is necessary, she believes the Town of Paradise could have done a better job of informing residents of the detour.

"They let us know 4 [p.m.] on Friday that this would be coming into effect on the following Monday," she said.

"We're getting frustrated that our voices aren't being heard. There's no notification or communication with the community at all."

In the meantime, she said the drivers that speed by her house every morning also have to take some responsibility for the safety of people living in the area.

"They're not paying attention to where they're going and they're cruising through here like it's Topsail Road," she said.

"All of these drivers live in places like this - how would they feel if they had this going on in their backyard?"