
Community group calls for widening of 'perilous' Point Prim Road
CBC
A community group in Point Prim, P.E.I., is calling for safety improvements to the area's main road.
The local women's institute has written a letter to the transportation department, asking for Point Prim Road to be widened to allow for a separate walking and biking path.
Longtime resident Ruth Gosselin said it's become busier as the number of businesses, cottages and tourist attractions in the area have increased, and the Point Prim Lighthouse and chowder house at the end of the road continue to draw large crowds in the summer.
"We bought this property 20 years ago, and at that time, this was a little country road, and it still is beautiful," she said.
"But there was no issue with riding bikes along the road. People would move out of their way. Traffic would move into the other lane to allow you lots of safety area. Now, there's just too much traffic. You can't pull over when there's someone coming the other way."
Rebecca Gerritsen has seen a few close calls first-hand from her dairy bar near the end of the road.
"I have a 14 year old, an 11 year old and seven year old, and I do not let them ride on this road by themselves .... It's too busy in the summer months. It's too crazy."
The women's institute is asking the P.E.I. government to call the bike lane Jake's Lane in memory of Jacob Simmons. He was struck and killed by a drunk driver cycling along another Island road without a dedicated bike path two years ago.
Simmons grew up in the area, and often biked and ran along Point Prim Road.
The transportation department says it will look into the proposal to make the road safer, though there are several other road widening and bike lane projects — such as Brackley Point Road and Route 6 in Cavendish — to get to first.
Gosselin said she understands the request could take time, but the sooner it can be fixed, the better.
"Every cruise ship that comes into the port in town brings probably two, maybe more, coaches down the Point Prim Road here. Every vehicle that goes down has to turn around at the end and come back up. So for anyone to be walking or riding it's perilous."