Stopping the city from putting in a through road in an Armstrong development will make the neighbourhood safer for all residents.
That’s the belief of residents of Heritage Point, who are petitioning council to consider dead-ending McKechnie Drive where the pavement currently ends.
The development is in an area where council recently gave third reading to an application to rezone property at 3260 Fraser Road from country residential to single detached residential and multiple unit zones.
The developer is proposing to subdivide the property to allow the construction of two single-family dwellings and five duplexes, totalling 12 dwelling units.
“Putting a road through all the way to Fraser Road will increase traffic to an unsafe level on McKechnie Drive,” said Karen Peck, who presented the petition with more than 50 signatures on it to council.
Peck was also vocal about increased traffic during a public hearing on the application in September.
“This through road is unnecessary as the new developments can be accessed from Fraser Road.”
Closing off the road, said Peck, would reduce traffic volumes and eliminate issues created by putting in a through road.
Council expressed concerns at the public hearing that shutting off the road would be a problem for emergency vehicles.
“Putting in a gate would eliminate the concern for emergency exit,” said Peck.
The through road, she said, would make things unsafe for the children in the development and their activities like riding bikes and playing street hockey.
“The proposed through road has not yet been built so now’s the time to change the design,” said Peck.
“There will be no negative impact on anyone as you are not closing an existing road.”
Coun. Steven Drapala thanked Peck and Heritage Point residents for their “positive approach in the way they have brought the matter to council’s attention.”
Mayor Chris Pieper also provided the residents with feedback.
“Your comments were quite clear at the public hearing a month ago. We heard them then, and we’re hearing them now,” he said.
“We know your concerns with traffic flow. We’ll discuss things with our engineers and see what we can do.”