‘It’s just not a safe road’: Colwood locals call for sidewalks Milburn Drive after too many close calls

Every morning Brad Windsor walks his daughter, Stella, to school every morning along Milburn Drive in Colwood.

The trodden paths stomped into the grass sides of Milburn Drive are a visible reminder that he and his daughter have nowhere safe to walk.

“It’s just not a safe,” said the concerned father. “The traffic doesn’t feel safe, it’s not just pedestrians. Cars often go into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting pedestrians, you can actually see at the top of the street, skid marks where cars have hit the curb.”

The community has been asking for a sidewalk on the south side of the street for years, but the local resident felt it was time to take more action after a driver nearly hit his daughter last December.

“He was turning right from Hatley Drive onto Milburn, looking up the road behind me, and didn’t see us on the road because we weren’t elevated on a sidewalk, and almost hit my daughter. I had to pull her back, it came within inches of her,” said Windsor.

READ MORE: Colwood asks for input on closing Ocean Boulevard at Esquimalt Lagoon to vehicles

After the terrifying incident, he started a petition that gathered more than 250 signatures, met with city members, and has spoken at council meetings.

In 2018, the city released a public survey showing 61 per cent in favoured traffic calming measures on Milburn Drive and Lagoon Drive. Despite those numbers, it wasn’t considered enough support in the eyes of the municipality.

According to the city, a survey needs at least 75 per cent of residents to support the idea to pass, as it needs a large number of the community to actively want the changes, not just the majority.

Yet, Colwood Mayor Rob Martin says he knows that road needs upgrades and understands the community’s concerns.

“We understand as a council, they’re a problem,” said Martin. “I hope the community knows, we’re not just blowing you off, we have to make tough decisions right now.”

Milburn Drive is technically classified as a side street but with so many vehicles coming in from Metchosin and Royal Bay, the street acts more like a collector road.

Martin says the steep nature of the road, and the fact that it resides in an older neighbourhood makes fixing it more complicated and more expensive.

“A project like this, it would be north of a couple of million dollars, and for a small community like Colwood, that’s a huge part of our budget,” Martin said. “What we have to do is start making priorities.

But Windsor says Milburn should be put at the top of Colwood’s priority list.

“It is unsafe, it is on a major bus route, it leads to a school, and it leads to one of the major destination centres of Colwood,” said Windsor. “It meets all of the criteria and they haven’t put it on yet. We need to put forward sidewalks on Milburn Drive to council, in an expeditious manner, so that it’s done now.”

Until then, Windsor will continue to press council for street safety upgrades, he says are so desperately needed.

Follow @Rebeccas_Laws

Editorial Policies Report an Error