Hay River (Apr 19/04) - Last summer, Wendy Cayen had her own close encounter with a speeding vehicle in the West Channel area of Hay River.

Cayen says she was walking with a friend who had to push a baby stroller off the road to avoid being hit.

Wendy Cayen says speeding vehicles in Hay River's West Channel are a danger to pedestrians and young bicyclists like Ashley Felker, left, and Mary Ann Minoza. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"These drivers would come flying by," she says. "It was scary."

Cayen is also concerned for children walking and riding bikes in the area.

Mary Ann Minoza, 9, says she would like to see drivers slow down. Last summer, she says a truck went by her going very fast. "It almost hit me."

The problem seems to be largely a result of a change in speed limit as the Mackenzie Highway enters the West Channel on Vale Island.

The speed limit drops from 60km/h to 40km/h. However, Cayen says most drivers don't obey the 40km/h speed limit.

"People are saying they're flying by at 80," says the employee of West Point First Nation, which has its band office in the area. "We see it."

West Point First Nation Chief Karen Felker says she will write Transportation Minister Michael McLeod to request a meeting on the speeding and will be looking for speed bumps for the area.

"It's a safety issue," Felker says.

There is a danger that someone is going to get hit, she says, noting there are no sidewalks.

Art Barnes, regional superintendent for the South Slave with the Department of Transportation, says he has never heard of speed bumps on public highways -- just in parking lots and residential areas.

"That's a highway, NWT Highway 2," he says of the road in the West Channel.

Instead of a speed bump, Barnes suggests increased enforcement of the speed limits would be the best option to reduce speeding.

Sgt. Don Fisher of the Hay River RCMP met with the West Point First Nation on its concerns about speeding.

Fisher says there will be increased speed limit enforcement in the West Channel area.

In May, a radar traffic sign will also be set up for a couple of days. The educational effort will emphasize the speed limit to drivers.