Councillors here are feeling the drive to reduce the speed on local gravel roads.
A proposal to drop the speed on gravel roads to 60km/h could be costly – and potentially ineffective, according to some Puslinch councillors.
In his Oct. 5 roads report to council, public works superintendent Don Creed explained an earlier proposal to install new speed signs along gravel roads could prove to be costly. He said the issue was one of the items brought up at a community forum the previous month.
Creed was asked to do some research on the suggestion of posting speed signs not only Concession 7, but all the township gravel roads to drop them to a 60km/h zone.
“At first thought, it seemed like it would be an easy goal to accomplish. Since then, things have gotten a little more complicated,” he said.
One of those complications, is the Highway Traffic Act. Creed said under that Act, posting any gravel road or any road outside of existing urban centres, would require signs every 600 metres.
If all gravel roads are to have reduced speed limits, Creed estimated 130 signs would be needed, at a cost of $12,000 excluding the cost of installation. He said to establish any new speed zone, a municipal bylaw will also be required.
Councillor Susan Fielding asked Creed if he had a recommendation to council.
“Would this be feasible or help to add safety to our roads?” she asked.
Creed responded, “I definitely believe there are areas that would benefit from this. Obviously Concession 7 is in the forefront, based on the way the road was designed and built in regard to the sight lines. If you are looking for my recommendation, that would be the first one on my list.”
Fielding asked if council was to enact a bylaw, did Creed wish to consider specific roads or a blanket policy regarding all gravel roads. Creed said of other gravel roads in the township, “I don’t see a real need at this point.”
In comparison to Concession 7, none of those roads have the sight line issues or the daily traffic flow, he added.
Fielding asked if Creed wants to narrow the work down to just Concession 7. Creed said he has mixed feelings on limiting the change to just the one road.
“We have asphalt surface roads that are posted at 60km/h, but all our gravel roads are at 80km/h. In some regards that just doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said Creed.
Fielding said, “As a councillor, I have had a lot of people throughout the years call me regarding smaller sideroads, who are concerned that the speed, unless otherwise posted, is 80km/h.”
She added there are small roads travelled by school buses and so forth, but she also recognized the work required by staff to install 130 signs.
“I know it can’t happen all at once, but I personally think it might be a good idea to do this for all gravel roads … at some point post them at a lower speed than 80km/h. For some of these roads, it is not conceivable, or people should not be driving that fast.”
Fielding agreed Concession 7 has more issues and a more urgent need to be dealt with, but reiterated she would like to see the changes apply to all the gravel roads eventually.
Councillor Wayne Stokley noted that living beside a gravel road for most of his adult life, he appreciates the dangers they present. He, too, favoured the idea of considering posting all gravel roads to reduce the speed – somewhere down the line.
“But I do realize with the cost, it cannot be done right away.”
He favoured the municipality considering certain roads, with Concession 7 being a priority.
Stokley suggested posting other roads could be considered in future budgets. He asked the costs involved with posting Concession 7 this year.
Creed estimated the full length of the road would take 14 signs or $1,400 for the material, plus installation.
Stokley at the community forum people noted signs installed regarding truck traffic did make a big difference.
“I’m thinking these signs could make a significant change too.”
In respect to a bylaw, he said it could stipulate which roads would fall under the bylaw, and could be adjusted as new roads were included.
Creed said “the township can pass a bylaw that all gravel roads are 60km/h, but it is not really enforceable until the signs are put up.”
Councillor Ken Roth said he might be different than most, but he does not agree with reducing the speed limits.
“I don’t have any problems driving 80km/h on Concession 7. If the road conditions don’t warrant it, I don’t drive that speed – something everyone should do,” Roth said.
He also does not believe lowering the speed limit will improve the situation.
Councillor Jerry Schmidt believes there is merit in reducing speed limits in certain areas and isolated cases.
“But as far as across the board reduction of speed on gravel roads, I’m not in favour of that whatsoever.”
He said existing speed limits have been in place for a number of years, he does not foresee an appreciable reduction in the number of accidents or injuries. Such a move, he suggested, “would be more of a cash grab, than doing anything good.”
Even so, he does believe there are specific cases where reduced speed limits would be a good thing – but not across the board.
Fielding said added there are a number of people over the years worried about the speed.
She pointed out a lot of houses have been built along the sideroads and they are much more residential.
“It’s more for the residents that I am concerned.”
Mayor Dennis Lever agreed he too has concerns with Concession 7, “but more that it’s being used by traffic that would have been on Highway 6 if we had a real Highway 6 bypass.”
He agreed with Fielding the use of the roads has changed and they are not as rural as they once were.
“I also don’t believe that lowering the speed limit will change driver behavior that much.”
He said the OPP is not going to be there to monitor speeds.
“I have concerns that this will be an exercise where a small percentage of the drivers will pay attention to it, but the vast majority won’t pay attention.”
At the same time, he said the few thousand dollars to post Concession 7 will not be a major expenditure.
He said it would be far different if the cost was in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Lever did support signs on Concession 7 to attempt to address issues with that road.
He also agreed with Roth the road can be safely driven most of the time at the current speed limit.
Lever recommended that a bylaw be prepared for council to consider at its next meeting.
He also asked Creed to come back with more firm costs at that point.
