WELLINGTON COUNTY – Establishing community safety zones around the county will be considered as part of a roads master action plan, after a proposal to fast-track implementation of the traffic control measures failed to gain approval at the committee level.
A motion by councillor Jeff Duncan to establish community safety zones on county roads through urban and hamlet areas by the end of June was defeated at the Jan. 12 roads committee meeting.
At its Sept. 24 meeting, Wellington County Council approved a resolution by Duncan directing staff to prepare a report on the establishment of the zones on designated county roads and report back in January.
That motion stated that if council decided to proceed, a formal community safety zone bylaw would be created and brought back to council at a future date for review, discussion and possible approval through the county’s roads committee.
Community safety zones are designated sections of roadway marked with signs that are recognized under provincial legislation as areas that allow for the doubling of speeding fines.
Roads committee chair councillor Andy Lennox noted at the Jan. 28 county council meeting that “a spirited discussion” on the motion occurred at the committee meeting.
“I would suggest while the committee was divided in terms of the actions that councillor Duncan was wishing to take … I think all of the committee was supportive of using community safety zones as one of the tools in our chest to manage road conflicts between users on our roads and to address speed concerns,” said Lennox.
“So, the committee opted to not proceed with doing something immediately, but to include this into the roads master action plan … and to come up with ways to utilize them in the best possible way.”
Lennox added, “I think there is wide support for the use of community safety zones. I think there was just some concern raised around where and when and how we can come to use them.”
He noted feedback obtained through the master plan process “will certainly be key to helping us determine what the best use of community safety zones are.”
Councillor David Anderson suggested the committee involve the County of Wellington OPP in future discussions on the zones, as police “will have a large responsibility in enforcing them.”
“Absolutely. That was part of the discussion we had at the roads committee as well, that enforcement is an important piece of this,” said Lennox.
He noted the need to obtain OPP input was among “the biggest issues why we weren’t prepared to move ahead … we felt that a more robust process is part of that.”
“One of the main concerns is the timing of when we’re going to be able to institute the community safety zones,” said Duncan.
He suggested the zones could be considered ahead of the master plan process through an upcoming report on speed management guidelines.
County engineer Don Kudo noted road safety and speed management “are key items to deal with.”
Kudo said he is planning to report back to the roads committee on the guidelines in the spring.
