EET ARNE Se aR BARE EO et Pera, SET oh ss cers > AE ROU rE Be So esBharopan a « Par Wednesday, August 15, 1990 - North Shore News - 3 Laughing inside .. really! EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Nova Watson experiences the tears of a clown during a face-painting session at last weekend’s Childrens’ and Youths’ Festival at Cates Park. The event also included music from five bands and a communal mural paint- ing project. NEWS photo Neil Lucente kway traitic lights considered Fatal tra!fic accidents spur council into studying road improvements A TRAGIC traffic accident that claimed the lives of two North Vancouver wcmen has prompted North Vancouver District Council to iavestigate the installation of traffic lights at all the major intersections on Mount Seymour Parkway. On Saturday, July 14 at 1:55 a.m. Lisa Maier, 24, and her 19- year-old sister, Linda Maier, were killed and three passengers seriously injured when her Volkswagen Beetle was broadsided by two westbound vehicles. The accident occurred as Maier turned left across Mount Seymour Parkway to drive up Berkley Road. A petition containing 417 signatures was handed to council Monday by Caledonia Avenue res- ident Pat Deppiesse. The document cailed for an in- vestigation into the possibility of installing traffic lights ‘tas soon as possible’ at the junctions of Mount Seymour and Berkley and Mount Seymour and Dollarton Highway. Deppiesse also asked for im- mediate action to remove tail tocks and shrubs in the divider that runs the length of the By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer Parkway in order to improve visibility. She also called for the lengthening of the entry from Berkley going west onto the According to Nikkel, seven of these accidents ‘‘could have been considered of the type susceptible to correction by traffic signal con- tol.” The district has a criterion of five accidents in a 12-month- period ‘‘susceptible to correction”’ before considering traffic signal installation at an intersection unless ‘‘significant’’ vehicle or pedestrian delay is a factor. Nikkel has already recommeade- ed to the Ministry of Transporta- 44 I feel strongly that they should be cutting down that shrubbery immediately. 99 — Caledonia Avenue resident Parkway. A report from Norm Nikkel, district traffic operations super- visor, shows that there have been at least 17 vehicle accidents at the Seymour/Berkley intersection, in- cluding one other fatality, since 1987. Pat Deppiesse tion and Highways (Mount Seymour Parkway is classified as a Provincial Secondary Highway) that traffic signals be installed at the intersection of Mount Seymour Parkway and Dollarton Highway and that pedestrian signals at Lytton Street be chang- ed to full traffic signals. In addition, work is under way to have signals installed at Seymour and Apex Avenue. But Nikkel’s report stops short of recommending lights for the Seymour/Berkley intersection, saying only that, ‘Further traffic signals have teen anticipated at Berkley Road and at Northlands Dri-e.”’ Nikkel also concludes that driver visibility between eastbound and westesund lanes on Mount Seymour Parkway exceeds the recommended standards of the Roads and Transportation Association of Canada. *‘I would describe this visibility as being very good,”* said Nikke! North Vaucouver RCMP Insp. Dave Roseberry agreed that sight lines on Mount Seymour Parkway are ‘‘not a major problem.’’ ‘The shrubs are short in stature and the trees do not present a vi- sion problem. If one uses the re- quired care and attention when making a left turn and also yield- ing to oncoming traffic, there is no difficulty in safely negotiating the turn,”’ said Roseberry. BC Rail unions set strike deadline THE UNIONS representing North Vancouver-based BC Rail have vowed to walk out on strike at one minute past midnight on Sept. 14 if no contract settlement is reached by then, BC Rail vice-president of human_resources, engineering and communications Brian Foley said on Tuesday. On June 24 the union member- ship voted 87 per cent in favor of strike action. The announcement came _ less than one day after BC Rail and the Council of Trade Unions agreed to bring Vancouver media- tor John Thorne into their con- tract dispute. Contract negotiations have been on and off since March. BC Rail spokesman Barrie Wall said the two sides are discussing By Surj Rattan News Reporter the 28 ‘‘main table’? issues this week which include wages, benefits and a contracting-out clause. “We're trying to resolve those this week, if we can,’’ Wall said on Tuesday. He added that Thorne is ex- pected to mediate on 98 ‘‘non- table’’ issues during the weeks of August 27 and September 4. The last three-year contract be- tween BC Rail and the Council of Trade Unions, which represents seven unions and about 2,000 BC Rail employees, expired on June 30. Since that time the two sides have met for a total of 46 days. The two sides returned to the bargaining table two weeks ago after contract tatks had been ‘‘ad- journed”’ for more than a month. Of 310 issues initially tabled by the unions, 124 remain outstand- ing. Under the terms of the last agreement, the company has the right to contract out work. The unions want tu see that contrac- ting-out clause removed. !t is an especially contentious issue for the union that repairs locomotives for BC Rail. The company recently took delivery of 22 new GE locomotives. Members of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters maintain those engines and the union claims that the maintenance package accom- panying the new locomotives calls for parts to be repaired in the United States. Another outstanding issue is BC Rail’s desire to phase out cabooses. Meanwhile, BC Rail recently announced unaudited consolidated net income of $30 million for the six months ending June 30, com- pared with $34.9 million for the same time in 1989. But Ald. Ernie Crist disagreed and proposed immediate action to lower the speed limit on the high- way to 50 kilometres per hour, to lower the shrubs ‘‘such that there is no hazard’’ and to install traffic signals at Seymour and Berkley. Crist’s motion did not receive a second. Council voted instead to request a staff report by August 27 dealing with the installation of traffic control signals on Mount Seymour Parkway from Dollarton to Riverside Drive and 2 time frame for each proposed instaiia- tion. The report will also look at speed controls on the highway, the possible synchronization of the lights and sources of funding for the work to be undertaken. Deppiesse said she was less con- cerned with the immediate in- stallation of a signal light at Berkley than she was with improv- ing driver visibility through the central median. “1 feel strongly that they should be cutting down that shrubbery immediately,’’ said Deppiesse. Deppiesse also argued for a bet- ter overall traffic plan. index @ Budget Beaters ..... 34 M@ Business .......... 37 & Classified Ads...... 39 M Lifestyles.......... 33 @ North Shore Now ..47 M@ Sports ............ 13 @ TV Listings........ 28 HE What's Going On...10 Weather Wednesday and Thursday, cloudy with a chance of showers. Highs near 20°C. Air quality: good. Second Class Registration Number 3885