Commonage Road family launches petition against speed increase

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“The collision history demonstrates that with the current speed limit and current road conditions drivers regularly fail to travel safety,” Manager of Transportation, Amanda Watson said.

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“It’s my duty to uphold public safety,” Watson said.

Jolene McLellan has lived on Commonage Road for 11 years and co- owns the Secret Garden Daycare with her mother. She said she was unaware that a motion was before council to increase the speed limit and she’s stunned to hear it passed.

“There’s cars in the ditch all the time. There’s a blind corner right at Bench Row Road and there’s been many near collisions,” she said.

“We’ve all almost hit deers and coyotes; it’s poorly lit. I don’t see it being beneficial at all,” McLellan said.

The push to increase the speed limit was brought on by former city manager Lorne Holowachuk who argued the road is designed to handle much faster speeds than the current speed limit.

“What normally happens when you have a ridiculously low speed zone, it frustrates motorists and they will take risks to pass slow moving vehicles and that’s a higher risk of an accident,” Holowachuk said, in a previous interview with Vernon Matters.

McLellan disagrees and said more needs to be taken into consideration.

“Slower speed limits don’t guarantee safety but why put a measure in place that guarantees that you will be less safe?” she asked.

McLellan said she plans on writing to both the City of Vernon and the Ministry of Transportation about her concerns.

A link to the petition can be found here.