A busy Grand Forks intersection is catching the ear of elected officials.
City council received a complaint letter last week about Boundary Drive and Central Avenue, which is also Highway 3.
A parent says their 6-year-old son and a friend were almost hit by an aggressive driver.
“My son and his friend were in the crosswalk, about 5 feet in front of me and the woman (driver) whipped around from Boundary and literally came inches away from hitting the boys, full force. It could have been a horrible tragedy,” the parent wrote.
The parent says it’s not the first time there’s been a close call at the same intersection and Coun. Zak Eburne-Stoodley says it’s not the only complaint.
“I’ve actually received a couple letters and plus there was a major accident there a week or two ago so all those things combined it kind of seems like it might be time to take another look at that intersection, just see if there’s anything that can be done to improve it,” Eburne-Stoodley said in an interview with Vista Radio.
The intersection is near two Grand Forks schools – Grand Forks Secondary School and Dr. D.A. Perley Elementary School.
Eburne-Stoodley is also concerned given the number of students in the area.
“Oh, for sure! Yeah, that’s definitely a big part of it, especially at lunch hour, you’ve got kids darting back and forth getting things from Shell and all the other surrounding businesses so that’s definitely a concern,” he said.
Mayor Everett Baker is asking staff at the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to look in the intersection since Central Avenue is a provincial highway.
City council was prepared to pass a motion brought forward by Eburne-Stoodley but then decided it would be better to work with ministry staff members instead of going to the top.
“When you go to the top, sometimes the message doesn’t get to the bottom and that’s what we need to do. It’s not the minister of transportation that’s going to come out here or send staff, it’s going to be the more bottom level staff member,” Eburne-Stoodley said.
Grand Forks RCMP Sgt. Darryl Peppler told Vista Radio they are monitoring the intersection more recently.