Council backtracks on speed limit reduction

In the latest installment of the ongoing debate about speed limit reductions, Clearview Township council voted this week to overturn an earlier motion which would have reduced the limit on Fairgrounds Road from 80 km/hr to 60 between County Road 9 and County Road 91 and from 33/34 Sideroad to Beachwood Road.

Council originally approved the motion on March 7, then reconsidered it at the March 21meeting in the face of stiff opposition from several local businesses. Township staff was instructed to obtain a legal opinion as to whether council was acting in accordance with relevant policies. Advice obtained from the township’s lawyers was that council did have the authority to change speed limits provided they were acting in good faith. The original March 7 motion was then presented to Council on June 27 as part of the reconsideration procedure.

Ward 5 councillor Thom Paterson supported the motion saying the design constraints that prompted original concerns about road safety have not gone away.

Doug McKechnie, councillor for Ward 2 proposed an amendment which would have seen the speed limit on Fairgrounds Road reduced to 70 km/ hr versus 60 but the amendment failed to find a seconder.

Deputy Mayor Barry Burton argued that the real problem is not speed limits but driver behaviour and enforcement. He suggested that council ought to consider a half million dollar increase in the policing budget to triple enforcement on township roads. In the end, council approved a watered-down motion directing staff to investigate the cost of increased enforcement and report back to council.

The original March 7 motion was quashed, with councillors Walker, Lamers, Dineen, Broderick and McKechnie, Deputy Mayor Burton and Mayor Doug Measures all voting to overturn.

Another motion, approved at the March 7 meeting which would have reduced speeds on a section of Riverside Drive and two sections of Concession 6 was also before council for reconsideration. An amendment proposed by councillor McKechnie removed references to Riverside Drive from County Road 9 to the 15/16 Sideroad and Concession 6 from the end of the 50 km/hr zone to the Poplar Sideroad so that the stretch of Concession 6 from County Rd 91 north for 1.1 kilometres could be considered separately. McKechnie felt a reduction from80km/hr to 60 in this area with several homes, the Sixth Line Church and a daycare was too important to risk losing it by bundling it with the other changes. The amended motion passed easily.