It's a steep and winding section of road just inside Port Moody city boundaries that has claimed many a tire, fender and front grill.

Heather Skipworth knows all too well the travails of travelling down Gatensbury Road.

As a resident living near the bottom of the hill near the sharpest turn, it's not uncommon for the Port Moody mother to hear a screech and occasional thud.

A couple years back, Skipworth recalled one incident when a teenager, who just got his licence, found out the hard way just how unforgiving the road can be.

He crashed his car into some bushes just a few metres from her home, completely totalling the car.

The road is such a concern to Skipworth, she won't walk her kids to school along Gatensbury.

She believes the problem isn't the road, but instead the drivers who are either too impatient or have a lack of concern for other people.

"If you know how to drive, you can drive this road," Skipworth said.

Earlier this year, the city upgraded a portion of the road, adding advisory signs and centreline delineators at the steeper curves.

Skipworth suggested the measures have helped slow traffic down.

But not everyone is paying attention.

Just a couple weeks back, Alcina Hadwin, who is Skipworth's neighbour, heard a smash late at night.

An unidentified driver had once again misjudged the corner and smashed into the centre median, sending car bits everywhere.

Though Hadwin figures the median will act as a buffer, she still worries a car could come careening into her house.

She suggested the problems often come from commuters trying to save time by avoiding Clarke Road, who don't necessarily know the street or the area.

Hadwin isn't averse to taking down plate numbers of motorists whipping down Gatensbury in an unsafe manner.

However, short of closing the road off at the top of the hill, neither resident is sure what more can be done to make the road safer.

The Port Moody Police Department did offer one tip to drivers to avoid a date with a repair shop - slow down.

Port Moody police spokesman Const. Luke van Winkel suggested the problem tends to be speed.

"It's really just one of those places that if people just drive the speed limit, they'll be OK. Unfortunately, they don't," he said, noting drivers often crash going too fast up the hill.

As for any plans for extra enforcement or resources on the stretch of road, Van Winkel indicated there are other locations in the city that are more of a concern for police.

Interestingly, a request by the city's transportation committee asking for centreline delineators to be installed on Gatensbury at the bottom of the hill between Mary and Grant streets was recently turned down.

A staff report concluded the request was not warranted, noting accident data suggest relatively few accidents have occurred along that stretch compared to other areas of the corridor.

According to the accident data contained in the report, there are an average of five to seven accidents reported on the Port Moody side of Gatensbury each year dating back to 2004.

The mapped data show that many accidents have occurred near the south corner of Noble Court.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com