Zero Avenue Road Warriors
November 13, 2004 

Last week the RCMP set up radar on Zero Avenue for one hour in the afternoon, where the speed limit is 60 kmph.  During that hour, the officer ticketed four cars going 120 kmph - and faster.  He didn’t even try to stop the cars going 80 and 90 kmph, because there were too many.  The officer said that doing 120 kmph on Zero Avenue is the equivalent of traveling at 200 kmph on Highway One.

 I am a farmer living on Zero Avenue.  Every day I wonder whether I’ll make it as I turn into my driveway.  Many of my neighbours didn’t make it – they’ve either been T-boned or rear ended by speeding drivers.  Many of them still have health problems from the collisions.  Last year, a speeding commuter did a hit and run on my front fence, leaving my livestock to get out onto Zero Avenue, in the dark.  He was caught a few days later.  His excuse for not alerting us about the fence?  He “didn’t know what to say”.  How about saying he’s knocked down the fence – that’s good for starters. 

Zero Avenue is part of the horse and bicycle network of trails in Langley Township.  A few weeks ago I slowed down as I passed a horse and rider, riding past on the narrow shoulder of  the opposing lane.  A speeding driver pulled out and passed me from behind, going between me and the horse, missing the horse and rider by inches.  He was going well over 90 kmph.  What if he hadn’t missed the horse?  Who would suffer the consequences of his speeding?  The horse, the rider, the speeder, me? 

I’m also a member of the Zero Avenue Safety Committee, initiated by the Township of Langley and ICBC several years ago.  I have a four inch thick file full of official studies, speed initiatives, safety studies, etc.  I’ve attended endless meetings with engineers, RCMP, Township officials, ICBC, Safer Cities – you name it.  Professional traffic engineers did extensive studies of Zero Avenue.  Here are some of their conclusions:
 

• Traffic on Zero Avenue is traveling faster than on any other road in Langley Township, except Highway One. 
• You have twice as high a chance of having an accident on Zero Avenue as you do on other roads in Langley.
• The average driver on Zero Avenue is traveling at 90 kmph - or more  - in a 50 or 60 kmph zone
• Zero Avenue was engineered for 60 kmph in some sections, for 50 kmph in others.
• Zero Avenue is substandard in construction even for a rural road.
   

Is a speed of 120 kmph just a one time anomaly for a driver on Zero Avenue?  No.  That happens every day, and that’s not the top speed recorded.  The RCMP stopped another driver doing 152 kmph.  A motorcycle was caught after it sped through “another” accident scene at 165 kmph.  Last December a man, travelling in the wrong lane, was estimated to be traveling at 168 kmph when he hit a truck head on.  He died instantly.  The top speed recorded?  172 kmph for a yellow and black Mustang. 

These drivers are “road warriors” – they pull out and pass on double solid lines, five or six cars at a time, without a line of sight – in the rain, in sleet, in the dark of night – you name it.   

Add to that mix the dump trucks that will soon be using Zero Avenue to get into the new High Point Development at Zero Avenue and 200^th Street.  What do you get when you take a loaded dump truck going down a steep hill, and a speeding driver doing 120 kmph, in the wrong lane, coming up the hill? 

Every member of my family has had several close calls, just trying to turn into our driveway.  Two days after the last fatality on this road, a car in front of our house was rear-ended by another car, both traveling in the same direction.  The driver hit the second car so hard from behind that it spun around in the road, caught fire and burned. 

One little girl was hit by a commuter as she got off the school bus.  My daughter and several other children were almost hit by a driver that slid sideways past the school bus while the kids jumped out of the way – then the driver took off at speeds of 120 kmph.

The police have done stepped up enforcement and road blitzes on many occasions.  They have concluded that increased enforcement just doesn’t work.  Thirty seconds after the drivers pass the cruiser, they speed up to make up lost time.  Langley built $75,000 worth of ‘radar pullouts’ for the police on Zero Avenue – they are being used as “right hand passing lanes” by speeding drivers. 

The speeders on Zero Avenue would probably never consider going in a store and stealing something - because that would be breaking the law.  Why then, is it acceptable to drive down Zero Avenue at twice the speed limit, passing where it’s illegal and unsafe, endangering everyone, even themselves?  Isn’t that illegal too?  Why would anyone condone that? 

Could Zero Avenue be made four lanes someday?  Possibly – but since all the land would have to come from Canada, the cost would be enormous.  All the houses, barns and greenhouses are built close to the road.  That may be a future solution, but not one for today.