Editor:
Re: Perspective from a visitor, Nov. 1 letters.
Thank you to letter-writer Charles Evans, for taking the time – as a visitor – to complain about the speeding along Marine Drive.
Maybe powers that be might finally listen to something a visitor says, as opposed to a whiny resident.
I, along with many others, have been complaining about this issue for a long time. The speeding continues, and the enforcement is still iffy at best.
Part of the problem, as I see it, is that it seems even when there is police presence, the tolerated speed seems to be more than 50 km/h before anything is done. If 50 km/h – which is almost double the posted speed – is tolerated, why in the world is the speed limit 30 km/h?
Many times, I have been tempted ask an officer just how fast a driver has to be going before they make a move.
Evans is also dead-on about the early-morning commute, as well.
I live on Marine Drive, and 60-80 km/h or more is the norm, not the exception. Never have I seen a police vehicle out there between 7 and 8 a.m. Rainy days, same deal, since everyone knows that there won’t be police presence in the pouring rain.
The other big problem is drivers failing to stop for pedestrians at the crosswalks. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to cross at Marine and Kent, and the amount of drivers oblivious to what is going on around them is astounding.
Again, part of that problem is due to speeding. The other is still drivers with cellphones glued to their ears.
I’ve asked time and again why we cannot have some stop signs along Marine to slow things down. The sign coming into White Rock from the east is not effective. Firstly, the sign does not flash the speed limit on a continuous basis. Vehicles have to get quite close to it before it reacts. Secondly, even when some drivers see it and actually do slow down, it doesn’t take long before they pick up speed again.
Even though east-side and west-side residents pay the same property taxes, because the east end is dual jurisdiction, we seem to be in limbo, while White Rock and Surrey figure out what to do.
The west end received remedies to the speeding problem there. Now it’s time to get the east end remedied before someone gets hit by some idiot going 80 km/h in a 30 km/h, knowing that the chances of getting caught are slim to none.
Sharon Hollas, White Rock