There is a little road in North Quesnel that is
quite well used, however, its not actually a road.
It has no name as its an access to the Legion
parking spots on the south end of their property.
When the old Legion burnt to the ground
and was rebuilt on the same property in 1997,
they were required to pave the entire property.
Legion property extends from Barlow Avenue,
north, Kinchant Street, west, St. Andrews United
Church, south and the fire and emergency
alley, east. The property line is clearly marked
by the pavement.
The first row of parking spaces bordering
Barlow Avenue belong to the city but the balance
of the property and parking spaces belong to
the Legion.
Right from the beginning, access to their 12
parking spaces on the north side has been used
by the public as a convenient road and to some
extent this is also true of their parking area on
the north side.
However, since construction began on the new
arena, the problem has increased by 100-fold,
according to Legion spokesperson Doug Carey.
“I’m not against downtown development, but
with too few parking spaces for existing uses,
we want to protect our parking spaces for our
veterans, their families and Legion members,”
Carey said.
“When the public uses our access on the south
side of the building there’s a real safety issue for
Legion patrons using our designated parking
spaces on that side.”
Carey said he went to City Hall to discuss the
issue and was told by a front desk staffer ‘they
didn’t particularly care where people parked.’
He also spoke with the RCMP regarding what
options they had to handle the problem themselves
and he was advised the first thing the
Legion needs to do is advise the public of the
issue before they even post a sign or take any
other action.
Carey then came to the Observer for assistance.
The Legion has considered various solutions
but is appealing to the public to be considerate
of the issue of vehicles speeding through this
Legion access and to use designated roads to get
to their destination as well as refraining from
using Legion parking spaces for non-Legion
activities.
“The public continues to use this as a thoroughfare
but with the new arena construction,
this access is now used by heavy trucks and has
increased congestion and safety issues to an
intolerable level,” Carey said.
“It has to stop.”