Approval of a requested speed limit and access point approaching the German Canadian Club community facility was deferred last week with Red Deer County council asking for more information.Members of the club, located west of the City of Red Deer, asked council in a letter to use a previously approved approach they weren't aware of for access to their land.The approved approach would require the reduction in speed from 80 to 60 km/h along Rge. Rd. 280 ñ from the south boundary of Corner Gate Estates north to the west end of the curve on Twp. Rd. 382.County administration and engineers are in support of the access provided the speed is reduced, since the portion of the roadway adjacent to the property consists of a very sharp curve followed by a downhill slope to the north.Council deferred approval, wanting to know if another proposed access, at the back of the club, could be used without having to drop the speed.ìTo me, it seems the approach should be as far back as physically possible,î said Div. 4 Coun. David Hoar during council's Feb. 21 meeting. ìIf that was done the current speed would be satisfactory. I'm concerned with making the speed 60 km in front of a community club because we have 40, 50, 60 clubs in the county and I don't want to see that in front of all of them.îJim Woychuk, construction manager, said the speed reduction, while it would benefit club users, would also be good for all traffic driving in that area.ìThere is an advisory (sign) for 65 km/h there already but it's not enforceable,î he said. ìIt's not just for the purpose of the club access but the rest of the people on that road, especially with traffic coming through there daily year round,î he said of trucks accessing the Border Paving Asphalt Plant nearby and people who are visiting Fort Normandeau.ìSafety is always the number one issue,î said Div. 3 Coun. Penny Archibald. ìChanging the access is one thing but staff has put a lot of time into this,î said Archibald who didn't want to defer voting on the speed until next meeting.ìA different access can have a different requirement for speeds,î said Mayor Jim Wood. ìIf we defer it so they can look at changing the access for safety reasons, I agree with that.î
