A new video clearly showing drivers disregarding a stop sign featuring flashing lights, draws new attention to a longstanding intersection of concern in Oak Bay.
A 2020 ticket caught the ire of Victoria driver Mollie Kaye, who didn’t see the sign and received a fine and points against her licence.
It prompted her to look into the intersection, and create the video at the intersection where Beach Drive meets Cadboro Bay Road – near the Saanich border.
The video shows drivers coming out of Uplands along Beach Drive where the flashing stop sign sits. Many treat the intersection as more of a merge, accelerating to match traffic on Cadboro Bay Road. Thus, Kaye says, they’re missing the stop sign because of the design.
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Kaye argues penalizing motorists is not the way to make the intersection safer, physical changes are needed.
“No amount of flashing lights, signage, or issuing $167 violation tickets is going to make that intersection safe enough to avoid collisions,” she said.
The Oak Bay Police Department said it frequently receives requests from residents seeking enforcement of the stop at the Y intersection.
ICBC data for 2016 through 2020 shows 15 collisions at the intersection – three in 2020, six in 2019, five in 2017 and one in 2016 – putting it 10th on the insurance corporation’s intersection crash statistics list for Oak Bay. It shares 10th position with the lighted intersection of Monterey Road and Oak Bay Avenue. The corner of Cadboro Bay/Fort Street and Foul Bay Road tops the list with 87 crashes in the same time period.
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The Beach Drive/Cadboro Bay Road intersection has been the crux of many conversations and changes over the years.
Oak Bay councils have failed for 25 years to structurally change this dangerous intersection to a safer T intersection, said Curby Klaibert, a member of the Saanich & Oak Bay Safety Network. That group of residents brought concerns to the municipality in 2018.
In early 2020, the district moved the Beach Drive stop sign further north – close to the intersection of Cadboro Bay and Hibbens Close Road – and added flashing lights. The network argues the cosmetic changes have not improved safety and the intersection remains poorly designed and dangerous.
The potential for structural changes were included in the 2019 budget process. It remains on the priorities list alongside other transportation safety projects.
Oak Bay director of engineering Dan Horan emphasized the value of residents coming forward and communicating concerns. “As we go forward the community and council get to see the proposed prioritization and weigh in and shape where we’re going in the future,” he said.
READ ALSO: Oak Bay police ticket four drivers in 45 minutes for not stopping at stop sign
An October survey allowed residents to weigh in on the 2022 municipal budget with results expected before council and the public ahead of budget discussions. Find results of the 2020 questionnaire here.