Community association advocating for safer road after death of nine-year-old

After a crash claimed the life of a nine-year-old girl, a Saskatoon community association is bringing road safety issues before the city.

Baeleigh Maurice was riding her scooter in the Mayfair neighbourhood when she was hit by a truck last Thursday. She was taken to hospital, where she died.

Diane Bentley, president of the Hudson Bay Park-Mayfair-Kelsey Woodlawn Community Association, said she was shocked to hear the news.

“Shock and dismay and certainly grief for the family,” she said, describing her reaction to the incident.

However, Bentley may not have been surprised. The community association president said there were safety concerns about 33rd Street West before Maurice’s death.

“A lot of the residents feel that the traffic is speeding on the street, exceeding the posted speed limit. The ability for people to safely cross the street is not always recognized,” Bentley said.

“They’re having to battle with traffic and be recognized that they are in an identified crosswalk.”

Bentley explained crosswalks are painted on the street, but most are fading and many have “worn right down.”

The community has only one flashing amber light, located at the Mayfair Library, she added, and people will often cross between neighbourhoods at places other than the signalled intersection at Avenue D North and 33rd Street West.

“(Community residents) need to be able to move with safety and with confidence that traffic will yield to them,” she said.

These are issues Bentley plans to bring before the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners during its meeting Thursday.

“You have to do what you can to draw attention to the people who can actually make those changes,” she said.

Bentley said she may also present at the next city council and general business meetings, as well as to the Saskatoon Standing Policy Committee on Transportation.

Earlier this month, the Saskatoon Standing Policy Committee on Transportation voted against reducing speed limits in residential areas to 40 kilometres per hour.

The board of police commissioners is to meet Thursday at 1 p.m.