Here is my most recent email to the city after no responses or activity since April! 

Hello Mark, 

I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. Now that we are back in the swing of a new school year I am writing to get an update on the status of the dangerous Hill Avenue and 240th streetintersection in Maple Ridge. 

As I’m sure you are aware, the petition to upgrade this intersection for the safety of all children, families, students, parents, caregivers, teaching staff, pedestrians and motorists alike has been active now for 18 months and has garnered 664 signatures and counting. 

1) One numerical figure that is extremely relevant is 535! 
- There are 535 students (and counting) currently enrolled at Albion Elementary. 
- We can safely assume that each family has on average 2 or more kids.  
- That means we can safely assume that we have at least 265 families at Albion Elementary School this year. 
2) The second numerical figure that is relevant is 664. 
- We have 664 signatures on this petition to make the intersection safer! 
- What this statistic shows is that this issue is not only relevant to our entire school population but also to a majority of the rest of the Albion community households in the neighbourhood who have to commute through this intersection by foot, transit, or motor vehicle. 

We have been waiting 18 months for an update on the city’s plans for this intersection. 

The last time I heard from  you Mark, you stated on April 16th 2024 Quote: “ we are working directly with the School District on this initiative because the Albion Elementary driveway is the west leg of this intersection. If changes to City infrastructure were to occur at this intersection, we would like their involvement and input as this impacts access to the elementary school. “ 

When pressed on who at the SD 42 district to discuss these details with to gain a full understanding of the situation, you encouraged me to speak with our school principal Tanya Dailey, who is CC’d on this email. Tanya is a great principal and has valuable insight and input on the school as well as how families and school administration are impacted by this intersection, however, she is not the decision maker on this issue. 

With all due respect Mark, the city is the final decision maker on this situation so I ask again, what is the status of this intersection? And who are the named decision makers? Thank you, on behalf of all of the community members waiting patiently for an answer. 

For your reference, please see a link to the now 18 month old petition: https://www.change.org/p/upgrade-240th-street-at-hill-avenue-intersection 

Sincerely,
Christina Holland