Lower speed limits may be coming
During the July 16 Regular Council meeting, municipal staff brought forward recommendations to Council surrounding speed concerns across Kawartha Lakes.
Council was presented with four options:
- Maintain the current community speed zones in place while using current traffic calming management strategies on a case by case basis
- Enforce municipal-wide community speed zones at 40 km/h
- Designating five urban settlement areas that would enforce the 40 km/h
- Designating three major urban communities that would enforce the 40 km/h
Council decided to pursue option two, which will be considered later this fall in the 2020 Budget deliberations.
The signage changes alone for 0ption 2 would cost more than $157,000.
The municipality currently enforces a speed by-law throughout 23 towns, villages, settlement areas and hamlets that designates specific areas as community speed zones that outline a speed limit of 50 km/h.
Should option two be approved in the 2020 budget, the speed limit in certain areas would be reduced by 10 km. The Highway Traffic Act allows for limited and specific signage at entrances and exits of the designated areas.
Through consultation with Kawartha Lakes Police and other municipalities, it was determined that if the speed limits were to change, Kawartha Lakes would need to create a public education campaign to ensure all residents were aware of the change.
If people do not obey 50km signs, what makes you think they will obey 40km signs? If there is enough police presence to enforce the 40km then why don’t they enforce the 50km? Points 2, 3, and 4 are ridculous! But then what would you expect from the city council.
$157,000 for new signs, $100-$250,000 to educate public about new speed limit. Can think of 100’s of better use for that money.