SPEEDERS IN GRAVENHURST GETTING THE MESSAGE STREET BY STREET

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Neighbours of the Beechgrove school are on a slow burn.

Angry at speeders and tired of talk from police, the town and district, Sarah Nash and Brittany Jones — a couple of moms who are the organizers behind a protest group called ‘Slow Down Muskoka Beach Road’ — are engaging in civic action with a campaign to “Light it up yellow” on the “race track” between downtown and Taboo Resort.

And the signs of the times have led to an outpouring of support from other parents who reached out on Facebook to make a statement by purchasing signs.

Before Saturday’s deluge they and their engaged neighbours put up 70 signs — with 30 more on order to go up this week.

And they’ve had tons of feedback on social media and requests for more signs.

Brittany Jones and Sarah Nash handed out signs Saturday to Holly Tyrkus and her kids Khole, 5, and Ayla, 2, who were first in line.

Theirs is not a road others have not travelled before they admit.

Gravenhurst is a wild west when it comes speeding and they’re now getting the message street by street.

On other streets in town where speeding cars and loud trucks are big issues — like Bay, Brown and Phillip — similar signs have been posted by fed-up homeowners.

Nash says she’d love to “advocate for the whole town and all streets.”

Chip Loughead wedged this sign in his tree on Phillip Street East at the south entrance to Gull Lake Rotary Park.

In Bradford-West Gwillimbury last month councillors handed out 200 signs. In London the city had to reimburse a resident $176 after his efforts to slow drivers were taken down in a works staff sweep to clean-up un-wanted sign pollution.

But Nash, who has lived a couple doors toward town from the school for more than six years and Jones whose been in her home across the street from Muskoka Beechgrove School for two years, say they’ve “had enough” of watching speeding cars and trucks endangering their neighbourhood.

Both have six-year-old sons — and Nash a six-month-old daughter.

Nash wants something done “before someone gets hurt.”

There is a flashing yellow light indicating a 40 km/h speed limit entering the s-turn around the school where there are also yellow signs warning to slow down. But it’s grown over by tree branches.

And an ironic message on the school’s boulevard message board urges students to ‘Stay Safe.’

Clarence “Farmer” Larose says speeders are a problem for him crossing Brown Street, which is a short cut between the main street and Muskoka Wharf.

But the moms say few heed the warnings and they want a community safety zone designation that would increase fines for speeders.

They also want the school crosswalk — where there is just a morning and afternoon crossing guard when school is in session — to be a traffic light.

Nash says the “traffic calming” initiative is the result of frustrations over “careless and reckless” driving behaviours she calls “drag racing.”

The road is “getting busier” and she’s “petrified something will happen.”

She said she has been “passed” and “double passed” by vehicles on the district road — which is really a street — and goes north toward Bracebridge.

And she and her son “almost got hit” two years ago.

Another time she says she witnessed an accident and was called to court, but the matter was resolved without her having to testify.

Since then she’s slowly been advocating for changes and has spoken to police, the town and the district to no avail.

They’ve received little other than lip service and more talk of a traffic study.

Nash says police did conduct one speed enforcement, charging four people; but traffic returned to normal speeds when cops holstered their radar guns.

So the moms decided to take action with the “awareness” campaign themselves.

They worry now that with school out and more kids walking and playing on the sidewalks in front of their homes road safety should be in every driver’s face.

Thus the signs.

Nash also notes hundreds more houses are being built or planned nearby that are making the Beach Road “progressively busy.”

Neighbour Bill Allison Jr., who grew up on the Beach Road, said he’s seen more than one dog hit over the years.

Allison was one of dozens of parents and who dropped by the school Saturday morning with his family to pick up the $7.50 night-bright yellow signs they ordered online from Nash and Jones.

Deserae Doolittle and Bill Allison Jr. and their kids Caygeon, 5, and Ahraea, 8, cross the Muskoka Beach Road at the school to pick up their sign.

Nash and Jones were busy handing them out and meeting “new friends” under cover of a camper trailer a friend lent them.

Little Lennox Hamilton and her mom Lisa Hamilton-Barrie were bought one of the two-sided signs for their home.

Mom said she’s “100 per cent” behind he initiative.

Jesse and Alex Waber live around the corner on Jones Road and are new to the neighbourhood.

They “hope it helps a bit.”

Their road, which is a shortcut from Bethune Drive, is a “race track,” says Jesse.

“Especially backing out of the driveway,” adds Alex.

Nash and Jones know some of the offending drivers by sight.

At the school Nash pointed to a pick-up truck speeding past, which she described as a regular offender. She’s taken down licence plate numbers and encourages her neighours to do likewise.

For now the signs will have to hopefully suffice as the catalyst for change.

This weekend they seemed to work as driving through the s-turn around the school the signs on the shoulders of the road stood out in eerie contrast to yellow centre line.

There were no visible speeders.

Could these moms and their neighbours be conduits for a change in speed on other streets?

If you’d like a sign, contact Nash at [email protected]

See more photos and videos below.

Slow Down Muskoka Beach Road organizers Britany Jones and Sarah Nash share their safety message.

Sharing the road is an ever-present danger for young cyclists at play along the Beach Road.

Lennox Hamilton and her mom Lisa Hamilton-Barrie are “100 per cent” in favour of the traffic calming signs.
Moe Beleau has seen more than his share of speeders on the Beach Road.
School safety signs aren’t slowing traffic enough for the moms, their neighbours and families nearby.
Safety first seems to be lost on some drivers passing the elementary school in Gravenhurst.
With all modes of transportation road safety is a concern for all users sharing roads like this recumbent rider.

SUMMER AFETY TIPS FOR KIDS:

Here are some tips to keep kids safe when playing or riding bikes around the neighbourhood from the BCCAA:

  • Talk to your kids about road safety and not playing on or near the road. Supervise younger kids and check-in frequently even with older kids.
  • Teach your kids to ask an adult for help retrieving toys that roll into the street or driveway.
  • Make helmets a rule. Kids (and grown-ups) need to wear them when using anything with wheels. For added safety, add lights and reflectors. Get more cycling safety tips for kids here.
  • Dress your kids in bright, reflective clothing, so they’re easier for drivers to see.
  • Show your kids how to cross the street at an intersection and marked crosswalk. Teach them to wait until the car comes to a full stop, look both ways and make eye contact with the driver before crossing.
  • Remind your kids to never cross the street between parked cars, or in the middle of a street.
  • If there are no sidewalks, kids should walk in a single file, away from the road, facing traffic.

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