BY J.C. NORMANDEAU
GUEST OPINION
Acadian Drive has to be to most dangerous street in the city and is located within a school zone.
The speed limit is consistently being ignored as cars are travelling way above the posted speed limit. Inconsistent speed limit signage on that stretch of road is a contributing factor as well as very little police enforcement.
Northbound traffic is posted at 50 km, southbound traffic is posted at 40 km, in the school zone the speed limit drops to 30 km when school is in session from Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. from Sept.-June.
There are at least five stops signs within that stretch of road that are blatantly being ignored by drivers. Drivers will blow by the stop signs, perform rolling stops but never come to a full stop. City employees driving city owned vehicles, provincial employees driving province owned vehicles, school bus drivers from the English and French board division, city transit buses, courier’s vehicle, taxis and the general public are all ignoring the stop signs.
The parking lot at the Carrefour Isle St-Jean, as well as the exit unto Acadian are being used lately by drivers as a place to lay rubber down and make donuts. This unsafe practice is normally conducted on the weekend or in the evenings when there is no police presence.
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Finally, T3 has recently installed a transit bus shelter on Acadian drive that creates a line of sight obstruction for drivers negotiating a left turn onto Acadian Drive from Patterson Drive.
All these factors make Acadian Drive a very dangerous place to drive on.
Last spring the police department conducted a traffic calming measure with very limited effect as it was soon noted by drivers that the speed radar was unmanned.
We do not need a tragic accident on that road to remind us that more could be done to make it safer for all, especially the young students attending school there and the children attending the day care facility at the Carrefour Isle St-Jean.
- Jean-Claude Normandeau is a resident of River Ridge Dr., in the Hillsborough Park neighbourhood of Charlottetown
