Shared Songhees Nation roads can be made safer for both drivers and other road users, by installing 30 speed limit signs and 3 STOP signs on Cooper Rd, Chief Robert Sam Lane, & Middle Rd. We have divided Band 656 Songhees Nation residential roads into 4 distinct areas which can be tackled separately through 4 separate projects to bring the speed limit down to 20 km/hr.
Key goals:
This is the first step in a long-term plan.
A dense residential population, narrow roads, no posted speeds, excess speed, hard-to-read sign faces, damaged and faded signage, a mix of community and indigenous use, and pedestrians and vehicles sharing the same roadways, are making unsafe conditions for all users on reserve land. This current four-grant application project is a first step to slow the speed limit, provide feedback on driving habits, calm traffic, and keep people safe and injury free. A short drive through Songhees Nation land easily provides evidence of the road safety need addressed. We have ten complete trailer parks testifying to residential density. Long-term we will widen roads and bring them up to a higher construction standard, lay down safe and wider sidewalks, and provide more walking and biking pathways.
The desired impact of the project will be to bring down speeds on all roadways making roads safer for all road users, particularly in playground and dense residential areas, increasing safety and preventing serious injuries.
This project specifically targets installation of thirty (30) speed limit signs and three (3) stop signs on Cooper Rd and on Chief Robert Sam Lane and Middle Road. These are connector roads and have no sidewalks on any of them. Pedestrians are quite unsafe. Middle Road particularly is very narrow and services multiple mobile home parks. There is far too much speeding. The stop signs are faded, hard to read, and in a poor location. Some posts are broken. We propose to use dual Lekwungen/English on our stop signs to promote cultural language and heritage connections.
Our roads are often only 6 m wide, rather than the standard 7.5 m width so are more dangerous. Cooper Rd is a normal narrow indigenous road. However a high volume of off-reserve traffic still uses it as a shortcut to by-pass busy city roadways.
