Vehicles are speeding past school buses in this St. John's neighbourhood, and residents want action

Amanda Power says she’s been complaining to the City of St. John’s about the problem of speeding vehicles in her Kenmount Terrace neighbourhood for years. (Arlette Lazarenko/CBC)

The view of vehicles streaming past stopped school buses outside a St. John's home has one resident frustrated — and she has hours of video to prove it happens a lot.

Amanda Power of Kenmount Terrace says she and her neighbours have for months been recording video of vehicles driving past school buses despite their red flashing lights and stop signs. Power said she's seen animals hit by cars — and she fears it's just a matter of time a child is struck.

"I don't want that child who eventually will be struck … to be a poster for distracted driving," she said Wednesday. "Because that's eventually what's going to happen."

Power, the mother of a seven-year-old, has had her own close call, while walking her 160-lb. dog.

"We were in the middle of the crosswalk and a business van blew through," she said. "I couldn't believe it. Like, it's daytime."

Need for safety measures

Power is concerned over the speed and volume of traffic on her neighbourhood's Ladysmith Drive and Great Eastern Avenue, which she said people use as bypasses to get to Kenmount Road and Kelsey Drive.

"People are just speeding through here like it's the Trans-Canada Highway," Power said. "They're not abiding by any rules of the road."

Since residents started collecting video of speeding vehicles in November, she said, tickets have been issued. But more needs to be done, she said. She'd like to see a three-way stop at Kiwanis Street and Ladysmith Drive to slow traffic down and make it less attractive as a bypass.

Power said she's been complaining to the City of St. John's about the problem for several years but there's been no action taken.

Power shared an Aug. 17, 2022, email with CBC News from then Ward 4 councillor Ian Froude, who said the city had conducted traffic analysis on Ladysmith Drive and Great Eastern Avenue and determined the roads didn't qualify for traffic calming measures.

"If there are vehicles running stop signs or not stopping at crosswalks, then please call the RNC. The more residents that call them, the more resources they can put into traffic enforcement in the street," Froude wrote to her.

In Nov. 17 email Power shared with CBC from Nov. 17, 2023, traffic analysis supervisor Stephen Fagan wrote Ladysmith Drive could be eligible for the traffic calming program, but 25 per cent of the street's households — 31 households — would have to sign a petition to support a study.

Power said she doesn't understand why that step is necessary when she has proof — six hours of dangerous speeding and buses being passed by vehicles.

Froude has since left council, and Power said the newly elected Tom Davis has been listening to her concerns. But it's only been since the provincial government announced a new school for the neighbourhood that the city said it would install speed cushions, "which may or may not help," she said.

WATCH | Power has hours of video of speeding drivers — and says it hasn't been enough for the city to act:

There's a plan for a temporary speed cushion on one street but Power said it's for the summer when school is out and won't give the city accurate data for making decisions.

Power wants city staff to visit Kenmount Terrace to see what traffic is like and talk to people in order to figure out the best solution.

"Maybe they [should] actually take suggestions, instead of doing these studies, and try it," said Power.

CBC News asked the City of St. John's for comment and was told Davis will comment Thursday.

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