Watch above: A family living in a northeast Edmonton community says they’re afraid to spend time in their own backyard. Michel Boyer finds out why.
EDMONTON — A couple living in northeast Edmonton says something has to be done about a busy nearby intersection, after a vehicle went crashing through their back fence for the third time in four years.
“I don’t know if they’re waiting for a fatality to happen before something occurs but I’m not willing to let that be the case with us,” said Sandra Barata.
Sandra and her husband, John Barata, live on the northeast corner of 50 Street and Brintnell Blvd., just a few blocks north of 153 Avenue. Thursday night was the most recent time they had a vehicle end up in their backyard.
“All of a sudden we just heard this screeching and I heard a bang and then I saw the fence go down,” said Sandra.
“He slid on the ice and slid sideways, hit the light post and then bounced off the light post and into my fence and hit it hard enough to snap a 6×6 post in half,” added John.
Their back fence has previously been struck by a vehicle in 2011 and 2013.
“The second time was quite bad,” John said of the July 2013 incident. “First I heard screeching tires and then a loud smash and I could hear boards actually hitting areas. I thought, ‘what just happened?’
“Boards went 30 feet into our backyard.”
Traffic heading north and south on 50 Street does not have to stop at Brintnell Blvd. Drivers on Brintnell Blvd. have a stop sign, but John says because traffic on 50 Street is so busy, motorists often cut across traffic when it may not be safe to do so. Because of that, he says drivers are forced to swerve and end up in his backyard.
With a young daughter, it’s become a serious safety concern for the couple.
“This is where my child plays. I want to know that I can put my child in the backyard and play around in the backyard and we’re safe,” said John.
“The last time this had happened and it was July, the police officer had even told us then that if it was a truck and he had come through he would have barrelled right on through right to our house,” added Sandra.
The Baratas’ house isn’t the only one that’s been hit; a few of their neighbours have had their fences hit by vehicles, and John says their fence was hit twice before they moved in.
Sandra has contacted the city to request lights or some kind of barricade be put up at the intersection. But so far, she says nothing has been done.
The City of Edmonton’s Transportation Services department says it is planning a complete review of the intersection this spring.
“Transportation is also looking at the timelines for a future fire station that will be constructed on the southwest corner of that same intersection, which will require a traffic signal in operation prior to opening,” the city said in a statement to Global News.
The Baratas just hope something is done sooner rather than later.
“When it’s happened this many times we have to look at why it’s happening. It’s not something that happened once; it’s not even something that happened twice,” said John.
With files from Michel Boyer, Global News.
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