A grassroots movement to make Ashton Road in Agassiz safer took a step forward last week.
The District of Kent council unanimously directed district staff to come up with solutions to calm traffic along Ashton Road. This vote followed a petition from concerned residents who live in the area.
Over the years, Ashton road has been the site of traffic-related fatalities, speed limit controversies and a bevy of problems associated with increasing levels of traffic. The five-page document in the council’s agenda highlights a number of the most recent testimonials from residents on or near Ashton Road, listing a number of concerns including aggressive drivers, and drivers ignoring children playing signage.
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The petitioners proposed multiple possibilities, including speed bumps, increased traffic enforcement presence and district recognition of Ashtron Road as a traffic slowed neighbourhood.
“This is a good place to start,” Coun. Kerstin Schwichtenberg said. “The whole idea of (motorists) driving too fast (down Ashton Road) has been brought up in the past.”
In other council business, council unanimously approved a $39,000 contract to Contour Concrete for the third and final phase of the current round of sidewalk work throughout the Agassiz townsite. This last phase includes three portions of sidewalk along Vimy Road (at the Evergreen, McCullough and Elm intersections), the intersection of Cheam Avenue and Evergreen Drive and at McDonald Road and Glenwood Drive.
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Council unanimously voted to approve a $854,000 bid from Jake’s Construction for work on the Agassiz slough floodbox. This floodbox receives a bulk of the stormwater discharge from the townsite; when complete, the floodbox would have significantly increased capacity, allow for safer fish passage and reconnect waterways to the Fraser River.
The next District of Kent council meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 14 at 7 p.m. Registration to attend the meeting via Microsoft Teams is available at kentbc.ca.