LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Every day, Allan Anderson puts the ashes of his beloved dog Baby Girls out on his driveway and sits in a chair facing the highway that runs past Wildrose Acres.

Allan Anderson fears that if people keep speeding through the 60-zone by his house, another of his dogs - or friends - will be killed. Here, he holds two of his dogs, Whisker and Samson. His third dog Fida, not pictured here, completes his family. - April Hudson/NNSL photo

He takes off his hat and waves when vehicles pass him doing the speed limit. He gives the middle finger to speeders.

Anderson lives a stone's throw away from the point where the road from the ferry to Fort Simpson changes from a 90-kilometre-per-hour zone to a 60 zone. For years, Anderson has put up with speeders who fail to slow down in time.

Aside from his house being filled with dust, Anderson said he has had friends die on that road. Worst of all, Baby Girls - one of his four dogs - was hit by a vehicle one winter and killed.

Anderson has brought the issue of speeders to the mayor, to MLA Kevin Menicoche and to the Department of Transportation, which has decided to crack down on drivers in the area.

"To me, this means everything because people are going to die," Anderson said.

"I'm trying to save people's lives."

In the last weekend of July, the department changed the location of speed limit signs on the road near Wildrose Acres in an effort to encourage drivers to slow down.

The department moved the 90-kilometre sign and added two extra 60-kilometre signs as well as an electronic message board sign telling drivers to slow down.

"If you drive out on that highway now, you'll see the new signs," said Dan Quevillon, regional superintendent for the department.

"(Anderson) is very happy and we are going to continue to take care of him."

Mayor Sean Whelly said he is aware of speeders on that stretch of road.

"It is a bad area because people believe they are still a long way from town, as they drive in from the ferry crossing," he said.

"They tend to keep going highway speeds until they get past Bannockland. The trouble is that pedestrians, bikers, pets and people just out enjoying a walk can be anywhere along the route."

Anderson said one of the issues is that the residential area of Wildrose Acres does not have high visibility and some drivers who may be passing through or who are unfamiliar with the road will not know they are entering a residential area.

"What scares me is my little dog goes across the road to get a ball and someone comes flying around the corner. This is a residential area, period - I need to get the word out there," he said.

"If you kill my dogs, you might as well kill my child."

Whelly said the village would like to see more signs put out to indicate that pedestrians and pets may be on the road.

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