It含羞草研究社檚 Vernon含羞草研究社檚 version of the Brickyard in Indianapolis, home to the Indy 500 auto race.

So says Gord Nuyens of the stretch of Okanagan Avenue between Fulton Road and Okanagan Landing Road (a 50 kilometre zone). Nuyens has lived there since 1970 with a front-row view to motorists speeding, or veering around wildlife that have made their way onto the road.

含羞草研究社淐hildren walking to and from Ellison and Fulton schools are at great risk due to the over 100 km/hour speeders, swerving to miss deer, on the very narrow, winding, dangerous road,含羞草研究社� said Nuyens, 75. 含羞草研究社淲e and our loved ones and pets are also in jeopardy just picking up our daily mail and weekly paper.含羞草研究社�

Across the avenue from Nuyens is Anne Miller, who has been at her residence on Okanagan for seven years. She doesn含羞草研究社檛 go for morning walks with a friend anymore because 含羞草研究社渋t含羞草研究社檚 too scary.含羞草研究社�

Miller lost her golden retriever service dog which was killed on the road, and she said two neighbours含羞草研究社� cats were hit and killed in the last three years. She also can含羞草研究社檛 count the number of birds that have died.

There was also the time, she said, a car pulled out to pass a motorcycle and, in doing so, 含羞草研究社減assed so close to a friend walking on the roadside, the slip stream pulled her onto the road.含羞草研究社� A very narrow miss, said Miller, who was also pulled onto the road when a driver swerved.

含羞草研究社淭his stretch of road is used as a short cut and faster route by people living to the west of the area,含羞草研究社� said Miller. 含羞草研究社淔ewer lights, less police presence, less traffic makes this route preferable for people going to and from Okanagan Landing.

含羞草研究社淚 used to drive this route often before living here and always slowed down to enjoy the rural feel and beauty of the area. Slowing down is now dangerous as the speeders pass slower vehicles and, in doing so, go even faster.含羞草研究社�

Nuyens, Miller and a dozen other residences of that stretch of Okanagan Avenue have asked Vernon council to consider putting in calming mechanisms, like speed bumps, or even a stop light (Okanagan Landing Road has four stop lights, said Nuyens).

Both requests have been turned down.

In a letter to Nuyens, Mayor Victor Cumming said the city follows national transportation engineering guidelines for adjusting intersection control from stop control to signalization. The City of Vernon, he said, recently finished a network screening study in collaboration with ICBC to identify the top priority intersections for safety improvements.

The study says there are no plans to convert intersections to lights along Okanagan Avenue at this time. Nor will there be speed bumps placed along the road.

含羞草研究社淎s per the City of Vernon含羞草研究社檚 neighbourhood traffic management policy 含羞草研究社� which can be found on the city含羞草研究社檚 website 含羞草研究社� the city does not install speed humps on city streets, except where warranted in the downtown core,含羞草研究社� said Cumming.

The city passed along the residents含羞草研究社� concerns to the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP.

Travelling east from Okanagan Avenue to Fulton Road, the speed limit is 50 km/h at The Oaks housing complex. Motorists then get a windy road 40 km/h sign, followed by a narrow structure sign near Elephant Storage. A double curve sign is next, indicating the road goes to the left and, finally, there含羞草研究社檚 a 50 km/h speed sign before Fulton Road.

Going west, there are two 50 km/h speed limit signs, a barrier road sign, a narrow structure sign, the double curve sign past Elephant Storage, encouraging speed to be reduced to 40 km/h, a barrier sign at Longacre Road, and a stop sign ahead sign approaching Okanagan Landing Road.