{"id":853341,"date":"2026-08-10T20:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T20:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/853341\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T20:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T20:34:11","slug":"a-dangerous-section-of-road-in-st-johns-is-getting-a-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/853341\/","title":{"rendered":"A dangerous section of road in St. John\u2019s is getting a makeover"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\" alt=\"Text to Speech Icon\" width=\"44\" height=\"44\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<p>A dangerous, crash-prone stretch of a road in St. John&#8217;s is set to get a renovation in order to make it safer.<\/p>\n<p>Kelsey Drive, located off busy Kenmount Road, has been a source of ire for drivers and pedestrians for years.<\/p>\n<p>In late 2023, the city released its annual collision report of city streets from data gathered between 2018-2022 and ranked the Kelsey Drive and Kiwanis Street intersection as having the seventh-highest collision rate. The same intersection was also ranked first in terms of collision frequency at mid-block segment \u2014 which are designated crossing points located between intersections.<\/p>\n<p>Sheila Whalen, who is from Conception Bay North area and was doing some shopping at the Walmart on Kelsey Drive, said she doesn\u2019t like driving in this area.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI avoid it if I can. It\u2019s very, extremely overwhelming,\u201d she told CBC News.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything would help. I think it\u2019s really congested,\u201d she said, adding it must be a struggle for an older generation to navigate.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A woman in a light purple sweater.\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786394051_435_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7777777777777777\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>Sheila Whalen says she tries to avoid the Kelsey Drive area when she can. (Danny Arsenault\/CBC)<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, the city announced construction was set to begin at the intersection at Kelsey Drive, as well as the nearby Thorburn Road and Goldstone Street.<\/p>\n<p>At present, there are few pedestrian crossings in the Kelsey Drive area, which can prompt people to attempt to cross five lanes of traffic instead of taking a lengthy detour by foot to get to the crosswalk at Kiwanis Street.<\/p>\n<p>The city will be installing new traffic and pedestrian crossing signals at the intersection between the Walmart and Home Depot as well as the Canadian Tire and Swiss Chalet. A new median will also be added at the Boston Pizza and TD Bank access to create a right-turn-only movement for vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Coun. Kate Cadigan said the city is looking to prevent unsafe driving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s something this area needs. It is a very busy commercial area, of course,\u201d she recently told CBC Radio\u2019s The St. John\u2019s Morning Show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is only one pedestrian crosswalk there right now, so that certainly needs to be improved. So these are very positive upgrades to the area and we are looking forward to getting them done.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The work is expected to cost $2.43-million and is being covered by the federal government. It&#8217;s expected to conclude in December. Until then, motorists can expect traffic delays during construction.<\/p>\n<p>Download our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/newsapp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> \u00a0free CBC News app <\/a>\u00a0to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our<a href=\"https:\/\/subscriptions.cbc.ca\/listmanagement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> \u00a0daily headlines newsletter here <\/a>. Click<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/newfoundland-labrador\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> \u00a0here to visit our landing page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48],"class_list":["post-853341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}