Dear Editor,

It's Deja Vu all over again on 16th Avenue! Yet another vehicle ended up as an unscheduled lawn ornament on my pasture/front lawn.

This is the third vehicle that has had to be towed off of my property since the spring.

Each time, there is damage to my property, stress placed on my livestock, and increased safety concerns for my family. These accidents are not minor and it is only a matter of luck that we don't already have a roadside memorial as a constant reminder of the failure of the Township of Langley to guard the safety of its residents.

The mayor and council have been reluctant to recognize the issue of public safety and unwilling to take a stand that would increase safety for both drivers that use 16th Avenue and the residents who live on this country road. Their own Engineering Department states that there is "not a significant enough risk" to require traffic mitigation.

The road itself is not dangerous - the drivers are. Six of the seven major accidents that have occurred in the past seven months were single-vehicle accidents on a straight stretch of road.

Widening the road is not the answer; enforcing the speed limit via traffic mitigation and control is.

I live on a straight stretch of 16th Avenue and have a 300-foot frontage. Still, three vehicles have managed to find my property.

There has also been a double-fatality, and three dump trucks have run off the road within a short distance.

Not significant enough? I suppose that the only other explanation is that the drivers of these vehicles have an uncanny affinity for hobby farms.

With the proposed access of Highway 99 from 16th Avenue, the human and property toll will surely get worse.

The Township needs to grow a backbone while we still have the ability to solve this problem.

Teresa Townsley, Langley