Friday December 13, 2019 ~ COLWOOD
~ West Shore Voice News
West Shore Parks & Recreation (WSPR) is renewing their efforts to restrict cut-through traffic from Ocean Blvd to the Island Hwy following an incident that resulted in a serious injury of a staff member this past week.
On Wednesday December 11, while monitoring a scheduled closure to cut through traffic, the staff member at the entrance to the West Shore Parks & Recreation parking lot off Ocean Blvd was seriously injured during an encounter with a driver and vehicle. The staff member was taken to hospital for treatment and the RCMP responded to handle the matter with the driver.
“The nature of the incident has left staff at WSPR feeling extremely concerned for the injured staff member and for the ongoing safety of the patrons on our site,” said Sandy Clarke, Acting Administrator, West Shore Parks & Recreation.
“West Shore Parks & Recreation is a large site that houses many facilities and spaces and is heavily used by community members of all ages, in particular seniors and children,” said Clarke in a news release today. “The number of cars cutting through the site and the speed at which they are travelling must be addressed, or further injuries will occur.”
WSPR has been conducting random closures Tuesday to Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 am at the exit from the parking lot to Island Highway starting last month. This action was taken in order to deter drivers using the facility as a short-cut and improve the safety of patrons and staff by reducing the amount and speed of traffic in the parking lot.