A Kitchener city councilor wants barriers installed at a local playground near Homer Watson Boulevard and Pioneer Drive, after a car crashed into a play structure at the busy park on Wednesday.
No one was injured but the incident left park-goers shaken.
“I want children and families to continue to be able to use this park, I want to see it activated the way it is every day,” said Christine Michaud, Ward 4 councilor for the City of Kitchener. “I don’t want them to fear, literally for their lives, while they’re playing in a playground. We’ve got to make it safer, and we have to do it sooner than later.”
According to Michaud, when the playground near Upper Canada Park and the Southwest Optimist Sports Fields was first planned, the area was not nearly as busy as it is today. Now, with more traffic than ever before, she wants safety improvements installed right away.
(Dan Lauckner/CTV Kitchener)
Wednesday’s incident wasn’t the first time a crash has happened at the park. In September, a van narrowly missed kids and parents there before hitting a tree and a post.
“This is the second time within a 12 month period that this has happened. I don’t want to see a third time, because you know for the grace of God nobody was hurt at this time. I think a third time, I think we’d really be pushing our luck, and this isn’t something that I want to see,” Michaud said.
Currently stone barriers are in different areas of the park, but not along Pioneer Drive between the road and the playground. At the next meeting of council, Michaud plans to call on the city to install something similar between Pioneer Drive and the playground, as well as along the side of the park facing Homer Watson Boulevard.
“Whether it was fast or not, driving towards the playground and just missing a child, it just makes your stomach turn and I think that every resident is really sickened by this,” Michaud said.
Michaud hopes to work with staff to expedite the process and get the safety features installed in time for the end of spring.
Bent metal at the base of the play structure shows where the car collided with it. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)