OPSRRA was successful in obtaining funding through its Grant in Aid application to CRD in the amount of $700 for the maintenance and refurbishing of the 37 notice boards in our communities. If you would like to help our team with this project, please contact Brenda at director1@opsrra.ca.
Thanks to our volunteers Arnie, Bob & Dom who are diligently out there working to keep our local notice boards looking good.
We need more great volunteers to also help freshen up our Welcome to signs. If you’d like to help, please reach out to Brenda (director1@opsrra.ca) on our board who is spearheading this initiative.
OPSRRA needs volunteers as part of a subcommittee to do some maintenance on our Welcome to Otter Point and Shirley signs.
These signs were made possible through fundraising by OPSRRA in 2011 and with the help of volunteer labour by OPSRRA members. They are a real asset to our communities.
The signs have been inspected and need cleaning and some touch-up painting, possibly structural shoring-up of one post on one of the signs.
We have received a small amount of grant money from the CRD to carry-out repairs, so OPSRRA will cover the costs of materials needed.
Ideally, this work should be carried out before the end of September 2018, and before the rains start. Depending on the number of member volunteers, 1 or 2 teams could form and do the work quickly.
Timeline: August to September 2018
If you can help, please contact:
Brenda Mark
director1@opsrra.ca
phone 250 646 2598
Fiona McDannold
secretary@opsrra.ca
phone 250 646 2730
Diane Foster
treasurer@opsrra.ca
[Editor: This initiative could start in the spring, 2018. More details and contact information will be posted later.]
Submitted by Neil Harvey and Carol Li
Carol and I are new to the Sooke/Otter Point area. We love this place. We were happy to attend the recent meeting and share thoughts and concerns with our new neighbours.
After a year here, we have some observations which appear to be shared by the OPSRRA community—most of whom have been here far longer than us.
Our proposal:
1. We form a group of residents who watch the road (Road Watch 14), similar to a Neighbourhood Watch program, to collect information on vehicular traffic to forward to the RCMP, Ministry, etc. who can decide if they want to develop new policies, run their own measurements or other.
We can measure:
- Vehicle type (logging, gravel, motorcycle, camper etc…)
- Vehicle speed (phone app called Speed Gun)
- Vehicle volume
- Time, day and direction
- Noise level (phone app called Sound Meter)
- Video for identification purposes (especially commercial)
- We put up signs indicating that noise and speed bylaws are in effect and measured.
2. We form a plan to present the message to newspapers, websites, commercial trucking companies, motorcycle clubs and tourism BC websites.
A couple of questions first:
1. Are there enough people in this community who are concerned enough about these issues, and who have the energy needed to pursue possible solutions to these problems?
Is there a clear statement of the issues and a strong list of possible solutions?
2. Do we have the required connections to the right people who can make the solutions possible?
Two of the issues:
1. The posted speed limit of 80km starting at the east end of Gordon’s Beach and running out to Port Renfrew.
Speed limit changes are evaluated by the Ministry of Highways using various data including: traffic volume, traffic type; road geometrics; crash data; local development; shoulder condition; and pedestrian activity.
Roads are typically given a speed limit based on what is called a design limit. This takes into account factors such as road width, number and degree of horizontal curves and some others. I am not sure if BC uses an ‘Expert Knowledge-Based Speed Limit Setting System’ but perhaps we need to request one. I am getting this information from the following 2003 government document: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/driving-and-transportation/reports-and-reference/reports-and-studies/planning-strategy-economy/speed-review/speed_review_report.pdf
The problems with this stretch of road and speed limits:
- It is narrow—especially when the size and width of vehicles is taken into consideration (e.g. logging and gravel trucks);
- It has little or no shoulder;
- It has many medium to sharp horizontal curves and many elevation changes;
- It has seen significant increases in both commercial and private vehicle volumes;
- Housing development has increased significantly along this corridor and looks to continue doing so;
- Statistics show many accidents along this stretch of road;
- No street lights at Otter Point Road and Kemp Lake Road intersections.
The proposal coming out of the OPSRRA meeting in November is to lower the speed limit along all or parts of this stretch of road. How much lower and in which sections remains for a provincial review to determine. What we need to do is find out how much local and regional support there is for this proposal.
2. The second issue is noise along this same stretch of road. The CRD has a Noise Suppression Bylaw #3378. https://www.crd.bc.ca/docs/default-source/crd-document-library/bylaws/animalcontrolnoiseticketauthorizationunsightlypremises/3378---noise-suppression-(southern-gulf-islands)-bylaw-no-1-2006B.pdf?sfvrsn=0
Here is the general statement:
No person shall make, cause to be made, or continue to make any noise or sound in the Electoral Area which creates a noise that disturbs or tends to disturb the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the neighbourhood or of persons at or near the source of such noise or sound.
Applying this bylaw requires that data collection and then notifying the appropriate authorities so they might do something about it.
This seems quite straightforward.
The question is: how much local and regional support there is for the application of this bylaw. The proposal coming out of the OPSRRA meeting was to find a way to monitor and record noise levels at certain points along the road. There is no mention in the bylaw of a specific noise threshold which might trigger the application of the bylaw so this would have to be developed.
Other safety issues along West Coast Road:
- Street lighting at Kemp Lake Road and Otter Point Road intersections would improve visibility and safety.
- Cars parking along the road with limited pull-off room.
Thanks for your time.
Help with our community bulletin boards
OPSRRA has 28 community bulletin boards located next to Canada Post boxes in Otter Point.
The boards require regular maintenance and sometimes need replacement.
Our two volunteers need help with the following:
- Board painter (boards brought in for repair).
- Semi-annual tour of the sites -- cleaning and minor repairs.
- Board replacement (includes post-hole digging).
We could also use donations of materials:
- Scraps of plywood( ½ inch, 5/8 inch or ¾ inch) to form the sign core. Minimum size: 24 x 36 inches.
- 4 x 4, 8-foot treated posts.
- Post hole digger.
- Green and brown exterior paint.
Call Arnie Campbell at 250-642-3113 or email d.acampbell@shaw.ca
Thanks to our volunteers Arnie, Bob & Dom who are diligently out there working to keep our local notice boards looking good.