Traffic-calming measures coming to Fredericton street where crash killed 3 young people

When Mark Thomas glances up the street from his house on Douglas Avenue, he can't help but recall the chaotic scene two months prior. There were flashing police lights, ambulances and a wreckage of cars and twisted metal.

A crash in the early hours of May 5 claimed the lives of three young people, two of them students at Leo Hayes High School. But Thomas and other residents say they had been warning the city for years about their concerns around speeding drivers.

Now the city is responding with new traffic-calming measures on Douglas Avenue — nine speed cushions — and residents like Thomas are optimistic.

"It's about the kids, it's about safety, and if that's what it takes, that's what we have to do."

Nashwaaksis North Coun. Bruce Grandy says speed has been an issue on Douglas Avenue for as long as he's lived in the neighbourhood.

He believes the street, which runs parallel to the Ring Road leading onto Westmorland Street Bridge and loops around from Brookside Drive down to Maple Street, was built too wide from the outset.

"They were looking at a design of a street more like a highway I think than anything, for capacity," Grandy said. "I think that was kind of a mistake at the time, not looking forward [and] making it residential."

Thomas said drivers frequently use Douglas Avenue as "a thoroughfare to the bridge" when traffic is heavier on the Ring Road or Maple Street.

"In the summertime, it can be scary for those, including myself, with grandchildren… people not taking heed that it's a subdivision, not an interstate highway," Thomas said.

The fact that the road is long, wide, on an incline and curves in places "adds to the situation," he said.

The speeding issues were serious enough that Thomas said he and his neighbours almost submitted a petition a few years ago. 

Grandy, who chairs the city's mobility committee, said complaints of speed are more than anecdotal.

Last year, the city updated its residential traffic calming policy and studied traffic speeds, traffic volumes, collision history, and other factors. Grandy said the study put Douglas Avenue second on the list of highest-risk residential streets.

Two traditional speed bumps have already been installed at one end of Douglas Avenue. But the city is aiming to install the nine speed "cushions" by August.