In a letter in the Jan. 3 Record, Francois Lepine whines about the 40 k/h restriction on Piercy Avenue, and the ‘painted signs’, and thus proposes to travel along Tull Ave instead (Courtenay resident disagrees with decision to reduce speed limit along Piercy)
Piercy Avenue is of a width which causes many motorists to think they can go faster on it – obviously, they do, hence the speed reduction. The so-called ‘painted signs’ are colloquially known as ‘sharrows,’ that is, arrows indicating that motorists should share the road with cyclists. If he is a cyclist, as Francois Lepine states he is, then he should be grateful that the city has made Piercy safer for him. But, should he consider it his God-given right to drive two tons of steel and plastic along a narrower road like Tull at 50 km/h to be quicker, I’ll ask him to bear in mind that it is a residential street with children on it. And, too, to take note that the city is proposing that all residential roads will be 40 km/h in the not-too-distant future.
As an experiment, this morning I drove from 17th to 26th Street, along Piercy at 40 km/h, and Tull at 50 km/h, coming to a complete stop at their stop signs. Piercy took me one minute and 50 seconds, and Tull 1:30. Hmm – I just wonder what Francois Lepine will do with that overwhelming 20 seconds he’s saved. It’s not like there’s a ferry at the end of them that he just has to catch. Of course, if he were to cycle either road at an average cycling speed, I doubt there would be any time difference anyway.
Peter Blackmore,
Courtenay