Council asked to help after crashes

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This article was published 17/08/2021 (1864 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of a home that has had multiple vehicles crash into it wants the city’s help to make a nearby intersection safer.

Laurie Unruh showed pictures to Brandon City Council during their Monday meeting depicting the cars that have smashed into the side of her home at the intersection of Ninth Street and Aberdeen Avenue over the years.

The first incident was in 2012, when a red Chrysler Sebring ran through Unruh’s garden bed and collided with her house.

“The only damage on this accident was a crack in my inside hall closet,” she told councillors. “It wasn’t too bad, but it scared the living daylights out of me. I have taken the front garden out due to the fact I felt my safety was a concern. Every time people wheel around that corner, they’re screeching their tires, they’re going too fast.

The next incident happened just under a month ago when a black Honda Civic not only hit the side of her home, but had its front end disappear into the house’s stone foundation.

Her family has been living in a hotel in the three weeks since the second crash.

According to Unruh, that collision destroyed her two-year-old water heater, a one-and-a-half-year old furnace, damaged duct work, took out water pipes and damaged carpeting and electrical wire to the point it needs replacement in parts.

Additionally, her gas line needs to be inspected for damage, three support beams were taken out and personal effects were damaged.

Pictures of her basement shows particle board placed on the wall to close the hole leading outside and a temporary beam supporting the home’s structure.

Grass is now growing into a downstairs bedroom as well.

“Because of all of this damage, I’m also concerned about my house insurance,” she said. “House insurance companies can drop you just like that after two crashes into your house. Especially now that all the outside has to be dug (up) so they can put all the supports back in.”

She said the only way she can feel safe about her home moving forward is to place bollards on her lawn to prevent further crashes, especially since her daughter with multiple sclerosis has her bedroom in the basement.

In a conversation with a traffic planner, she said she was told that the city would not pay for bollards, meaning she’d have to foot the $2,000 to $3,000 bill herself.

“Because I’m putting bollards in my yard, I’m not protecting pedestrians, the small kids who are riding their bikes, the boy who has gone out to his dog for a walk, a young mom that’s pushing her stroller with a brand-new baby in it,” she said.

“Either one of these people could have been killed in either one of these accidents, especially this last one.”

Unruh called for the city to put crosswalks in at the intersection and to create some kind of road for learning motorists to drive on that would take them away from residential streets.

What she doesn’t want is for a traffic light to be installed, because she believes that it would only encourage speeding by people trying to beat lights.

After Unruh’s presentation, Mayor Rick Chrest called it “an almost unthinkable situation.”

In response to a question from Coun. Shawn Cameron (University), Unruh said that in the most recent case, the collision was caused by someone running a stop sign and being redirected into her home after striking another vehicle.

The mayor said the city’s planning and engineering department could work with Unruh to come up with more cost-effective solutions to protect her home going forward.

“Certainly you have our sympathies for the predicament that occurred there and we’ll continue to work with you to see if there are any other methods that can help to provide you with a little more peace of mind in your home,” Chrest said. “Hopefully lightning doesn’t strike three times.”

At the beginning of Monday’s council meeting, Chrest held a moment of silence and offered condolences to the family of former Rosser ward councillor Corey Roberts, who died on Aug. 1.

Roberts served as councillor from 2010 until 2014.

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