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Welcome to our website. We are residents of Zero Avenue in south
Langley, and we are concerned about the safety of our children and our
neighbours.
Zero Avenue is very uniquely situated, as it is the international boundary
between Canada and the U.S., and as such it is subject to a great deal of
surveillance by both border agencies. Post 9/11, we have a much less relaxed
situation, and helicopters and border agencies regularly patrol the corridor.
The south edge of Canada's Zero Avenue falls under the control of the
Boundary
Commission, which is a unique international Canada/U.S. agency. The
Boundary Commission is charged with caring for "ten feet" on either side of the
international boundary - they are supposed to keep it clear so that the boundary
is easily seen. A very hard task in a rain forest. The Boundary
Commission is also very particular about the activities that can take place on
this ten foot wide strip of land.
Zero Avenue, because of it's rural location, has a unique problem. Due to
a lack of development of 16th Avenue and other designated Translink arterial
routes, drivers began using Zero Avenue as a high speed east - west route
through Langley Township. The rural location and limited RCMP resources
meant that drivers were fairly confident that they could travel as fast as they
wanted on this road without penalty. The speed limit on Zero Avenue was 50 kmph. Residents knew that speeders were going at rates far beyond the
posted speed, but even they were astounded at the RCMP reported rates - 120 kmph,
130 kmph, 165 kmph, 168 kmph - even 180 kmph. In one hour on a weekday
afternoon, the RCMP ticketed four cars traveling between 120 to 150 kmph.
After many years of enduring near-misses on this road, residents of Zero Avenue
had had enough. One day a little girl getting off a schoolbus was struck
by a car - a commuter from Richmond.
Residents petitioned the Township Council, and following two public meetings,
the Zero Avenue Safety Committee was established. It was composed of
concerned Zero Avenue residents, RCMP, ICBC and Langley Township engineering
staff. ICBC was so concerned about the rate of accidents on Zero Avenue that
they paid for two independent studies to be undertaken on the road.
The studies were completed in 2002 - Hamilton and Associates made some key
recommendations about Zero Avenue, which were presented to the Zero Avenue
Committee, and subsequently to Langley Township Council.
More information about these recommendations is contained in the
Powerpoint Presentation, but basically ICBC was so
concerned about the frequency of accidents on Zero Avenue that they were willing
to pay for 100% of the cost of closures on Zero Avenue. They were also
willing to pay for 60% of the cost of "speed tables" - raised intersections to
slow traffic - if Zero Avenue wasn't closed off. ICBC will only do this if
they feel that it is cost effective. By their estimates, the reduction in
payout for claims on Zero Avenue would pay for the road closure within two
years.
After a huge hue and cry, Langley Township Council instead chose to try
increased police enforcement. Several "traffic blitzes" were undertaken, both on
Zero Avenue and on 16th Avenue just to the north.
Traffic enforcement didn't work, as speeders would only slow down till they
passed the patrol car. For every one speeder caught, twenty got away.
Langley Township then installed $75,000 worth of "radar pullouts" along Zero
Avenue. These were used as "right hand passing lanes" by speeding
motorists.
RCMP informed Langley Township Council that "increased enforcement on Zero
Avenue did not work."
Any "improvements" to Zero Avenue, other than the ICBC - funded changes, are
paid for 100% by Langley residents.
Zero Avenue is designated as a rural road - it is also part of the GVRD Horse
Trail Network and the Langley Township Bicycle Trail network.
Zero Avenue was designed to handle approximately 700 cars per day maximum.
By 2002 there were 3,000 cars per day on the road.
On October 4, 2004, Langley Township Council voted to install 13 "speed
tables" on Zero Avenue. A huge outcry came from residents on 16th
Avenue who didn't want traffic slowed on Zero Avenue as the commuters might go
back to using 16th Avenue, the Translink funded route. There was also a
great outcry from commuters who worried that their commute would be slowed if
they had to drive at the speed limit.
An enormous war of words ensued even as the speed tables were
installed. When a man died in a head on collision in December 2004,
opponents of the speed tables tried desperately to lay blame for the accident on
the newly installed tables - even though the accident happened some distance
away.
Bad weather prevented installation of the remaining speed tables until March
2005. Along with the speed tables came warning signs, reflectors in the
road and street lights above each speed table.
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SPEED TABLES SLOW TRAFFIC ON ZERO AVENUE |
Do they work? Yes. While they have not
completely eliminated the speeding problems, they have reduced the speed of the
traffic. Instead of going through a 50 kmph zone at 150 kmph., cars are
going 90 to 100 kmph between speed tables. Cars are slowing for the speed
tables - trucks and SUV's aren't.
Is it acceptable for cars to go through a 50 kmph zone at 100 kmph? No.
But it's better than 150 kmph.
ICBC feels that the speed tables are not severe enough, and is working with
Langley Township to find further improvements to speeding on Zero Avenue.
Should drivers be going this fast on Zero Avenue? I too am a commuter.
I travel through Burnaby every day on my way to work. The speed limit is
50 kmph. I travel 50 kmph per hour because to do anything else would be
unacceptable to the residents of Burnaby and to the RCMP - and to me. To
have me drive through Burnaby neighbourhoods at 100 kmph because it would be
convenient for me to get to work a few minutes earlier, is unacceptable.
Why then, do both 16th Avenue residents and non-resident commuters think it's
acceptable behaviour for Zero Avenue?
Contact Information
trudy.handel@gmail.com
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