OLDS — Council has directed administrative staff to devise a plan to address traffic safety in town.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams predicted that that report – with some options to consider – could be compiled in a month or so.
Council passed a motion calling for the report during its Oct. 11 meeting after hearing from a couple of delegations and a letter on the matter that was read into the record.
Mandy McKee told council that the intersection of 54th Street and 57th Avenue is especially dangerous.
One day as they were crossing that intersection, she just managed to pull her eight-year-old daughter back in time to avoid being hit by a vehicle.
“I am extremely cautious when crossing this intersection because unfortunately, this has not been an isolated incident,” McKee said.
“Prior to that instance, we had too many close calls with other drivers to even count. None of these close calls are OK. It’s just a matter of time before someone does get seriously injured or killed."
McKee said another couple of crosswalks on 54th Street are also very dangerous.
“We have walked across both of these intersections hundreds of times over the last five years and every day you’re never sure if this is the day we will get hit by a car,” she said.
McKee has learned from neighbours of many other near misses.
She said if nothing else, at least a crossing guard might make the intersections a little safer.
Val Warnock came back to council a second time (she first appeared before councillors last May) to urge something to be done about speeding and noisy vehicles along 57th Avenue, especially near 60th Street; the area where she and her husband live.
She brought about eight neighbours into the gallery with her who lent their support.
Legislative clerk Marcie McKinnon read aloud a letter first submitted by local resident Drew Marceton registering his concern about speeding vehicles along 54th Street and other nearby streets. (Marceton was unable to attend the meeting).
Uptowne Olds president April Jemieff asked council to set a 30-kilometre-an-hour speed limit in that area.
She said that’s needed because fast-moving vehicles are a danger to customers and raise dust in the summer.
That makes it an unpleasant and unsafe environment for customers, especially restaurant patrons sitting on outdoor patios.
In his letter, Marceton described 50th, 51st, and 52nd Street from 50th Avenue to 57th Avenue as “a racetrack where people drag race and speed.”
He said “non-existent speed enforcement in Olds” has “been allowed to go unchecked for years,” leaving himself and his neighbours “at a boiling point.”
Marceton said RCMP and peace officers don’t seem interested in enforcing speed limits, but he thinks that’s the real solution, rather than lowering the speed limit.
Williams said as the town was short of peace officers for many months, a point Marceton alluded to in his letter.
However, one has just completed a course on enforcing moving traffic violations. Another peace officer was in Lacombe taking that same course last week.
“What myself and speaking for director Andrew commit to is having, from I would say, this month forward, consistent enforcement efforts,” Williams said.
In her presentation, Val Warnock described 57th Avenue as also a “raceway.”
“Some of our buildings are such that they reverberate into our back decks on top of that, which certainly compounds the problem,” she said.
Warnock said more signage denoting a 50 kilometre-per-hour speed limit could help, and she understood that is in the works.
Warnock also suggested doing some enforcement via radar, although she conceded that having talked to town officials, that might be an expensive, complicated move.
But she said, even if that could only be done occasionally it might prove to be a very effective deterrent.
Overall, like Marceton, Warnock said more enforcement is likely the best, most effective fix and something needs to be done “because we aren’t a racetrack town and we’ve been treated that way.”
Jemieff said businesses in Uptowne Olds are also concerned about speeding in their area.
“We also have been experiencing a lot of pedestrians possibly getting hit in the Uptowne, being very close,” she said.
Jemieff said she’s aware that the speed limit is not the issue, it’s the drivers.
However, “we want to be able to have pedestrians walk from shop to shop or restaurant to restaurant. If there’s people almost getting hit, it really impedes that appeal for the Uptowne region.”
She said speed limits have been reduced in other communities to a similar extent.
Coun. Heather Ryan asked Andrew if a survey could be undertaken regarding the possibility/feasibility of introducing a 30-kilometre-per-hour speed limit just along 50th Avenue in Uptowne.
Andrew indicated that could be done. He noted town officials have information from an earlier traffic survey as well.
Coun. James Cummings noted there were allegations that RCMP, the town and school divisions didn’t seem to share traffic complaints or information. He indicated that problem should be looked into.
