After 20 years or more of advocacy, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit has finally responded to residents’ concerns about traffic on Pratt Road, particularly at the intersection with Chaster where elementary students cross to reach Cedar Grove, by installing a four way stop.
Instrumental to this long awaited action was the professional assessment presented at our February General Meeting by Transportation Choices Sunshine Coast and Area E Director Donna McMahon. We also thank ECA Board Member and Cedar Grove PAC Chair Tamara Hedden for her ceaseless work on this project.
You can read the assessment and recommendations here. Notably, although the posted speed on Pratt is 50km/hr, “recorded speeds indicate an 85% percentile of over 60km/h, so this speed is used as the effective speed limit” for the analysis. This finding is consistent with what ECA has been hearing from residents for many years.
Although it is not the pedestrian controlled crosswalk we would prefer, the four way stop is a significant improvement for vulnerable road users, and the case for an upgraded crosswalk will only continue to increase with the added traffic from Gospel Rock.
Photo shared by Tamara Hedden
