Township agrees to make no change to speed limit along Lake Range Drive, for now

Huron-Kinloss council has decided to leave the speed limit as is, along Lake Range Drive, for now.

At the committee-of-the-whole meeting last night (Sept. 7), public works director Hugh Nichol recommended that council return to his original suggestion Aug. 3, which was to install oversized Stop signs and large Stop Ahead signs, along Lake Range Drive, in an attempt to ensure traffic stops where it is supposed to stop.

A decision at that meeting to drop the speed limit to 60 km/h from the 4th Concession to Saratoga Road, prompted a delegation to come to the Aug. 15 meeting, upset with that proposal. Because all of council was not at that meeting, the issue was tabled and then revisited last night.

Nichol told council that regarding the speed limit, he is researching the use of traffic devices that collect the actual speed of the vehicles, as well as traffic counts. So, he recommended no change to the speed limit, for now.

A letter from Norma Hafner, a resident of Lake Range Drive near the 10th Concession, was also discussed at the meeting.

In her letter, Hafner states she is opposed to removing any Stop signs on Lake Range Drive to make it a through road. She also supports a reduction in the speed limit along that road from the 4th Concession to Saratoga Road.

Her concerns are for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists; safety of the high concentration of residents from the 8th to the 10th, as well as those in the Heritage Heights and Murdock subdivisions; and due to frequent poor visibility and weather conditions in the winter months.

"We should change the signage and see how that works," said councillor Jim Hanna.

He asked Nichol what the cost is for a radar device on a trailer that sits on the side of the road and clocks the vehicle speeds, reminding motorists to slow down. Nichol said the cost is about $14,000.

Mayor Mitch Twolan said he still believes dropping the speed limit to 60 km/h all along Lake Range Drive is the answer.

"But that got shot down," said councillor Lillian Abbott.

Twolan said he would be interested to see the results of the traffic counts then.

Deputy mayor Wilfred Gamble said he spoke to a police officer who noted that if the speed limit is 60 km/h, motorists tend to drive about 70-80 km/h. But if the speed limit is 80 km/h, drivers tend to go 90-100 km/h.

Council agreed to leave the speed limit for now and just make improvements to the Stop signs and Stop Ahead signs.

"But if we have any more incidents, we will have to look at reducing the speed limit," said Hanna.

"You know, the community is split 50-50 on this," said Twolan. "Some want the speed limit reduced, and others say leave it the way it is."

Currently, the speed limit in Point Clark is 50 km/h, while the speed limit is 80 km/h from the 4th to Saratoga, except for the section between the 8th and the 10th which is 60 km/h.