Admittedly, the driveway has always been a little complicated, Ashley Patten says.
“I’ve always had to back out, (but) that was fine when they had the light on Military Road,” she said.
Patten has lived on the corner of Queen’s Road next to Rawlins Cross for eight years. She says few people realize there is a driveway immediately after they turn right off of Monkstown Road onto Queen’s Road, and because of this, it has always been tricky getting in and out of her driveway.
“Then the roundabout came into effect,” Patten says. “I contacted the city nearly every day for months just to say (the roundabout) really impacted my driveway because I had a constant flow of traffic.”
The Rawlins Cross pilot project began on Aug. 30, 2018. Since then, safety concerns in the area have increased, according to an access to information request obtained by The Telegram’s Juanita Mercer.
“On average, before the roundabout … there was no issues backing out,” Patten says. “Since the roundabout I almost get hit maybe once or twice a month.”
Add to this the piling of snow above her line of sight, on the city’s property right next to her driveway since the winter started, and Patten says she almost gets into an accident once or twice a day.
And while Patten digs the area out so she can see what’s coming up Monkstown Road before backing out, the sidewalk plow continues to blow snow into that area, again blocking her line of sight, despite her telling the city on several occasions, she says.
The city has been in contact with Patten over the years about the ongoing issues with her driveway. They advised her to back into her driveway rather than pull in front-first, but Patten says this will cause other problems.
“When I come around this corner people think I have my blinker on for the turn and not the driveway, and so I never have enough time or space to angle my car,” she says.
If she backs in, Patten says, she risks reversing her car into oncoming traffic while she is not in their view.
“If I could (back in), I would,” she said.
At Patten’s request, the city placed a sign before the turn. But rather than a "Hidden Driveway" sign, as Patten asked for, the city placed a concealed driveway sign, which looks like a black cross placed on a yellow background.
The city says it no longer uses "Hidden Driveway" text signs because they are no longer in accordance with the most current version of the Transportation Association of Canada Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Regardless, the sign came down about two weeks ago and has yet to be put back up, Patten said.
The city says it is aware of the issue, however.
“The city was recently made aware that the ‘concealed road’ sign had fallen, and it will be addressed,” the City of St. John’s wrote in an email. “With the weather conditions as they are, crews are busy keeping up with damaged signs, and the top priority for sign replacement is traffic control signs (Stop, Yield, Do Not Enter, etc.) that are most safety critical.”
Patten says the roundabout has had the effect of reducing traffic flow in the area, but it severely affects pedestrians and people with driveways. And she’s afraid it will take someone getting hurt for the city to address the issue.
“I’d rather them be proactive than reactive,” Patten says.
An accident recently occurred two doors up from Patten’s house when someone was attempting to pull out of a business’s parking lot, Patten says.
“Someone came around this corner so fast … the person clipped the front of the car, and I know it’s partly because of (the pile of snow),” she says.
While Patten's interview with The Telegram was taking place, a car driving into Rawlins Cross from Queen’s Road hit a vehicle parked across the street. The parked car received only a scratch on the back of the driver’s-side mirror, but the car that hit it shattered the back of the passenger’s-side window.
Twitter: @andrewLwaterman
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