Mia Matton has a simple request for parents: Don’t take your young children sledding on Liberton Drive hill when it is icy – or maybe at all.
Recently, Matton witnessed a close call at that hill when a truck nearly struck a sledder who had sailed out into the roadway.
“All I know is I saw the sled carrying the little girl speeding by and I dropped the dog, and I went running,” said Matton.
Matton was at the Liberton Drive hill on Friday with her dog and her daughter. They had stopped in the parking lot to let the dog out.
“There was a father with his two little girls, and it just looked like they were going to have a nice sledding day,” said Matton.
Matton said they were the only ones at the hill at the time. She said she saw the father running as an orange sled carrying one of the little girls shot down the hill toward the road.
“Then I saw a truck coming and I was running, and I was waving my arms, while the father is running,” she said.
Matton said, ultimately, neither of them would have caught up to the sled in time and it was “just by a miracle” the little girl flipped off at the last second.
“Her body kind of went up into the air and did like almost a 360 ... into the air just before the curb,” said Matton.
The truck stopped, but Matton said it wouldn't have been in time.
“He hadn't even seen her. He didn't even know that there was a little child there. So that was really terrifying because even the drivers can't see what's coming at them,” she said.
Matton went home and sent a message to St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron. Then she posted about it in a local Facebook group to warn other families of the safety risk.
“I was just really compelled to do something," she said.
“Within hours, (the mayor) had Public Works involved and looking at it, so I was pretty impressed with her action."
In an emailed statement to the Gazette, Louise Stewart, senior manager of public works and transit, said continuous freeze-thaw weather patterns, limited snowfall and intermittent rainfall have led to icy hill conditions. These conditions mean the usual straw at the bottom of the hill has not been as effective as in past years.
“Public Works immediately procured additional straw to slow toboggan users even further. It is expected additional snowfall will also help,” Stewart wrote.
Temporary road signs to alert drivers have also been added to the section of road at the bottom of the hill.
In the summer, the city plans to look at the hill to see if additional steps can be taken. St. Albert has also reached out to other municipalities to see what strategies they have used to increase safety on slick hills.
The city recommends users should avoid the hill if it is icy, and should assess the hill's condition before they use it. The city also recommends that parents or guardians should supervise children and users should wear a helmet. Snow jumps are not permitted.
Matton said she was pretty shaken by the near-tragedy and the trauma it could have caused. She said the father was pretty shaken too and he left the hill immediately after the incident.
On the ride home from the hill, Matton said she spoke with her daughter about how precious life is and how quickly things can change.
Matton went back to the hill later to see what the city had done to fix it. She said she is happy the city put work in to remedy the situation so quickly, but noted the spot where the little girl went down still looks dangerous.
“You make these decisions because you just want your kids to have fun and that looks like that's the place to go and there's a crowd of people there on some days. But it's not as safe as what everyone thinks. Just because everyone's doing it doesn't mean it's a good choice.”
