Staff at the Gibsons and Area Recreation Centre are concerned for the safety of pedestrians as additional motorists are using their parking lot as a thoroughfare to avoid Gibsons Way.
Carleen McDowell, recreation manager for the centre, said she is amazed at the number of fast-moving vehicles and large transport trucks, dump trucks and service vehicles using the parking lot.
"It's not meant as a super highway," McDowell said. "It's a parking lot."
McDowell said staff at the centre are worried about the safety of the many children who use the ball diamonds, skateboard park and recreation centre. She said the increase in traffic volume was noticeable as recent road construction occurred on Gibsons Way, but did not let up once the road improvements were completed.
"It's a straight runaway to Park Road," she said, adding parents are driving too quickly as they let their kids off at the centre. "They use the underhang and swoop in there because it's an easy turn."
While the recreation centre is responsible for the footprint of the building, staff have no control over the parking lot. McDowell said they have been working with the Town of Gibsons to implement traffic calming measures of their own so drivers will slow down.
"We're putting in speed bumps next week. We certainly want to discourage the practice [of driving through the lot], while we recognize it's attractive. They are moving far too fast and far too frequently," said Town of Gibsons director of engineering Dave Newman.
Sunshine Coast RCMP Const. Adriaan de Jong said police are keeping an eye on the area and monitoring motorists' speed. He said one problem is that there are no truck routes on the Coast, so they are legally allowed to drive through the lot.
"Unless they are exceeding the 30 [kilometre] zone, there's nothing we can do," de Jong said.
