Coquitlam Avenue. We believe that the same concern should be shown ahout the
Coquitlam Avenue ditch. Aside from the possible health hazard, a more immediate hazard

from broken glass and similar trash is apparent in the ditch,

me parti€al covering, leaving inviting holes for young children to explore, also
creates a hazard. More than once recently, residents have had to chase youngsters out
of their culverts under the driveways, fearing the children could become stuck,

‘tne safety problem is compounded by the traffic@. ‘Yhat section of Coquitlam Avenue
is on a bus route. ‘The ‘ditch leaves a bus driver little room to manoeuvre, especially when
faced with 2 youngster who has scrambled out of the ditch onto the road in front of the
vehicle, Also, with the increased density of muiltiple-dwelling complexes immediately east

of the area, traffic volume is increasing along Coquitlam Avenue. ‘Those motorists face

the same problems as a bus driver,

While there is a sidew2lk on the east side of the avenue, there is still a fair

number of pedestrians on the road edge beside the ditch, Some are adults wanting to ase

the bus stop on that side and others children attracted by the ditch.

There ure also a few cyclists pinned between the car traffice and the ditch. One

constantly expects to see a bike-rider wobble into the ditch while avoiding a car.

The ditch adds further hasards to vehicles. in the last year there have been at least
four vehicles that have dropped 2 wheel into the hole and could not be extracted without
the help of 2 tow truck. While the residents have generally become accustomed to avoiding
the ditch while entering or leaving their homes, visitors or passerbys attenpting to
veverse directions by running into a convenient driveay are the usual victims. And even a

trace of snow adds to the numbers that end up in the ditch.

Parking is another problem. Often delivery trucks will atop, blocking traffic while

milk or a parcel is being delivered, because the ditch prevents the drivers from pulling

far enough off the roadway.

Finally, there may be in the long-tezm some saving to the municipality. Upkeep for

the drainage ditch is, to use a pun, a continual drain on city hall. For example, just