Photo: Darren Handschuh

Vernon Secondary School students paint 30th Avenue Hill for their graduation.

Citizens on the east end of 30th Avenue are making a push to the City of Vernon to permanently close the easternmost portion of the street.

30th Avenue Hill, formerly known as Suicide Hill, was closed during the summer to allow Vernon Secondary School grads to spray paint their names on it, which was a popular tradition up until it was scrapped in 1981.

Now the road is back open to vehicle traffic after the paint was removed earlier this month. As it turns out, residents of the neighbourhood were quite fond of the closure. Almost 30 people have signed a petition to make the closure permanent.

"There are almost no sidewalks in the neighbourhood – it would increase safety for children and pedestrians," says Heath Anderson in his proposal to city council. "The closure would also drastically reduce speeding in our neighbourhood."

Many other residents who signed the petition echo Anderson's sentiment regarding the volume of traffic and the number of speeders. Anderson even went as far to say he has "never slept so well" when the closure was implemented.

"It feels safer going out for walks without so many cars," says Christine Blake.

"I love the reduced [number] of speeders our street," adds Kath Raeber.

Vernon city council received the petition to be reviewed and will address the residents' concerns at a later date.