I was driving through a small residential part of Kitchener last week when I noticed something they have.. that we don’t. Traffic calmed neighbourhoods. They are in Guelph too! Centre Wellington is growing, and as indicated by recent articles, the population is expected to rise substantially. As the towns and villages become more dense, we need to consider traffic calming on our streets and roads. As a member of various community groups and public information sites, I can see that the issue of traffic is concerning almost everyone in Fergus and Elora, yet little measures have been taken to implement any forms of traffic calming. I see private signs all over asking people to please slow down. We have had to take measures into our own hands because many feel our community council is not hearing the concerns. Putting up a max/speed limit sign is great, but this doesn’t stop the speeding and the sheer increase in volume of vehicles on the roads. Our once quiet streets are becoming congested and people are speeding at alarming rates, passing cars on residential roads, passing school buses, honking at children. Are these the values that our community want to portray? Everyday I used to sit on my front porch and have a coffee and maybe 2-3 cars would go by in a 5 minute span. That was only last year. I am sitting on my porch right now, and over 40 cars zoomed by, including 3 large trucks, a bus and a taxi, in under 4 minutes.
We need to keep up with the changes happening in our communities before we are too big and too busy! Our council needs to be examining areas where new sub-divisions are going in and anticipate the increase in traffic. Traffic calming bumps are a simple solution and highly effective.
McNab Street
Beatty Line
Garafraxa
Sideroad 18 & 19 to name a few
Amy Stiles