The North Saanich daycare owner welcomes the district’s response after calling for a zebra crossing on Mills Road and Littlewood Road.
Tracey McCullough of the Garden Child Care Center said she was very pleased with the response from community officials. “But it’s a daily concern of ours when we’re outside, especially when we see how fast the cars are going on that section of the road.”
North Saanich spokeswoman Meghan Mason said staff had contacted McCullough to discuss the matter. “The council will review the (active transportation plan) later this month, and Ms. McCullough is aware that this plan will likely be related to her request,” Mason said.
McCullough’s appeal (who said she also heard from Mayor Geoff Orr and Coun. Heather Gartshore) is not the first of its kind.
Cory Hastings, who owns the building that runs the Garden Child Care Center with his wife, Heather, has also raised the issue in the past.
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Hastings, which owns Hastings Martial Arts in addition to the Keynote Academy operating from the building, said a zebra crossing at the location would help ensure the safety of youth training outside of the martial arts, as teenagers use the Victoria International Airport Walking and Biking Trail other side of Mills Road for physical fitness.
McCullough would also like to take children attending daycare across the street on trips west to Jubilee Park with its airplane-themed gear and Patricia Bay Park on the ocean side of West Saanich Road, which crosses Mills Road at a right angle .
“We don’t do that, of course, because we just don’t feel safe doing a large group crossing where there is no zebra crossing,” she said. The sidewalk closest to the daycare is a little east – away from Jubilee and Patricia Bay parks – where Mills Road crosses Beacon Avenue.
There is also a zebra crossing where Mills Roads crosses West Saanich Road.
McCullough said a sidewalk would also improve safety for children traveling to and from the North Saanich Freeride Park, as well as older pedestrians in the area.
“We’re playing outside,” she said. “Our outdoor play area is right on the corner of Mills Road and Littlewood (Road) and we see the number of people trying to cross the street and the speed of the cars in that section every day.”
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