FERGUS – Residents of the expanding Storybrook neighbourhood on Beatty Line North have raised concerns with the township over speeding drivers in the subdivision.
“My family lives on one of the main access roads into the subdivision,” said Storybrook resident Lindsay Duncan.
“We see individuals driving upwards of 80km/h past our house every day.”
Residents of the subdivision have taken to the Storybrook Facebook group to share their grievances.
“We have collectively agreed that while we do know there are many residents who are part of the problem, we also know that the construction workers who are building the homes are also speeding,” Duncan told the Advertiser.
“The builder has been notified numerous times by neighbours about the speeding issue and clearly do not seem to care.”
“This is something that we have been aware of … and we were dealing with this last summer,” said Greg Tanzola, CEO of Sorbara Group of Companies.
Sorbara and Tribute Communities, are the two builders responsible for the Subdivision.
According to Tanzola, Sorbara was made aware of workers speeding in the subdivision last summer, which he says the company dealt with.
Tanzola said he doubts any Sorbara workers have been speeding recently, as most of their work has wrapped up for the time being and some of those still on site are driving company-marked vehicles.
Tanzola said he and the company take the issue of speeding seriously, and noted the company has placed temporary signs throughout the community urging people to slow down.
“We take this very seriously, (however) the best we can do is tell those employed with us to slow down,” Tanzola told the Advertiser.
“We can’t put up speed bumps because they aren’t our roads, and we can’t put up permanent signage as that’s out of our jurisdiction.”
The Advertiser did reach out to Tribute Communities for comment but received no response.
However, Duncan said it’s not just the speeding that poses an issue but the attitude of drivers when told to slow down. Some drivers will laugh, give the middle finger, or speedup, she said.
“About a week after I gave birth to my youngest child back in May of this year, our family was about to go out for our first walk as a family of five. As we were getting the baby in the stroller, a white pickup truck sped by going around 80km/h,” said Duncan.
“I yelled for him to slow down, to which he sped up faster and intentionally fish-tailed his truck down the rest of our street.”
Duncan said she spoke with the township at the beginning of October; and was told the majority of the subdivision is not yet assumed by the municipality so there’s no speeding reduction efforts that can be implemented.
“When I asked why that was, when we have garbage and snow removal by the township on our street, they said it was ‘partially assumed,” Duncan told the Advertiser.
“I was advised to fill out a speeding form and to advise my neighbours to do so as well.
“The person I talked to said that the more submissions they get for a certain area, the more likely there will be a speed reduction effort implemented once the subdivision is assumed.”
The Advertiser reached out to township officials but did not receive a comment by press time.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, you cannot select our roads (roads inside the subdivision) to submit a complaint about because they are not yet assumed,” said Duncan.
“So, I selected the closest street to use which is Beatty Line.”
Duncan said she is very appreciative of all the hard work employees of the township put into making the community great. And she realizes this all comes down to technicalities.
“I just don’t want someone getting killed to be the reason that the township or the builder start implementing some sort of speed regulation,” she said.
Duncan encourages those feeling frustrated with the speeding issue to think about how they can be a part of the solution, whether its calling the police, the township, the builder, or filling out the online speeding form one the township’s website.
Duncan also shared one final message for those speeding in the subdivision.
“Please, slow down. Whether you’re new to Fergus or have lived here for years, I think we can all agree that respect is the foundation for good community,” she said.
“We want our children to feel safe playing outside. You never think you’ll be the one to end a life until it happens.
“It takes one child to run out at the wrong time for your world to be turned upside down. Please, drive slowly.”
