Northeast Calgary residents petition city to fix 'frightening' intersection
Dan McGarvey | CBC News | Posted: September 6, 2018 1:35 PM | Last Updated: September 6, 2018
Crashes are common at Westwinds Drive and Castleridge Boulevard, residents say
Some residents in Castleridge in northeast Calgary are asking the city to install lights to make what they say is a notoriously bad intersection safer.
More than 1,600 people have signed an online petition to get the city to fix the intersection at Castleridge Boulevard and Westwinds Drive where accidents have become common.
"We have ringside seats to the intersection," said Roop Rai, who works at a building overlooking it and is spearheading the online petition doing the rounds on social media.
"We see often there's a lot of traffic and within seconds the situation at this intersection turns frightening," she said.
"Just this weekend there was an accident. One of the cars had a small child in the car. The other had a pregnant lady in the car. These are some real issues we're dealing with," Rai said.
She says it puts commuters and pedestrians at risk but doesn't yet meet the requirements of the city's points-based system for determining how dangerous an intersection is. The score is determined by factors like traffic volume and accident numbers.
"We need some traffic flow management or some devices here," said Rai. "Democracy is only effective when communities and citizens engage and the petition is an avenue for us to get the voice of residents to our elected officials," she said.
But the intersection doesn't score highly enough — yet — to get lights.
Rai says many people in the northeast avoid the intersection altogether to avoid an accident or a frustrating wait.
Ward 5 Coun. George Chahal says he is aware of the concerns being voiced in neighbouring communities and is willing to work with residents to find a solution. But it might take a while.
"We'll work with any members involved with the petition to make sure the appropriate information does get to them and when we can let them know when we can look at following the process and working with city administration to ensure that we get a real good outcome here," said Chahal.
"This intersection in particular is a really important intersection and we've highlighted this as something to look at for either a three-way stop or lights moving forward," Chahal said, adding the northeast quadrant has had several new lights and crossings installed recently to improve safety.
Chahal is urging residents with concerns to engage with his office and talk to local community associations.
Rai says she's leaving the online petition open for now while she continues to gather support.
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