ELORA – Centre Wellington staff have identified five road segments in the township that will see reduced speed limits in the coming year.
Manager of engineering Adam Gilmore told council on April 28 the township received complaints about 23 road sections through its online “report it” tool.
After reviewing the complaints, staff is recommending various forms of speed mitigation:
- Albert Street, from Tower Street to the end, will be reduced from 50 to 40km/h;
- Elora Street, from Guelph Street to Tower Street, will be reduced from 50 to 40km/h;
- Garafraxa Street West, from Beatty Line to St. David Street, will be reduced from 50 to 40 km/h;
- Sideroad 6 North, from 1st Line to 8th Line, will be reduced from 80 to 60km/h; and
- Sideroad 10/15 in West Garafraxa, from Highway 6 to East/West Garafraxa Townline, will be reduced to 60km/h.
On other roads, where issues were raised but speed reductions were not recommended, the township will employ other speed reduction methods, such as flexible bollards, new speed limit signs, electronic speed signs, enhanced OPP enforcement, and line markings to narrow travel lanes and provide buffers for pedestrians and cyclists.
After a successful 40km/h neighbourhood pilot program in Elora last year, staff is recommending two more neighbourhood pilots this year: in the Storybrook and Beatty Hollow subdivisions in Fergus, and the Prince’s Street and Albert Street West area, also in Fergus.
Streets in the Storybrook neighbourhood will all be reduced to 40km/h, including: Conlin Court, Cudney Street, Dass Drive East and West, Duncan Court, Edminston Drive, Elliot Avenue East and West, Farley Road, Gauley Drive, Harpin Way East and West, Howard Crescent, Kirvan Street, Povey Road, Prest Way, Rea Drive, and Spicer Street.
Streets in the Prince’s/Albert streets part of town will also be reduced to 40km/h, including: Albert Street West, Athol Street, Prince’s Street and Perth Street.
“The neighbourhoods noted above were selected based on the number of concerns received from residents in these areas, their proximity to sensitive land uses such as parks and schools, and the road network configuration which makes it relatively simple to sign and implement 40km/h speed limit areas,” states
Gilmour’s report.
Staff will monitor the pilot over the year, and data collected will help assess whether the change should be permanent.
Gilmore said the township is being proactive this year in getting speed reduction measures in place to mitigate cut-through traffic caused by phase two of the St. David Street North reconstruction project.
Anyone with traffic concerns regarding St. David Street detours is asked to contact township project manager Karol Czerwonka at 519-846-9691 ext. 302 or kczerwonka@centrewellington.ca, or Triton Engineering project manager David Donaldson at 519-843-3920 ext. 232 or ddonaldson@tritoneng.on.ca
Otherwise, residents are encouraged to use the “report it” tool on the township website to lodge road, speeding or traffic complaints.
The tool sends the message to the right department for staff to assess the situation and uses the data as it does annual reviews of the road network.
Council approved the recommendations.
