ERIN – Confusion at Erin council over default speed limits has been cleared up, and the town is proceeding with changes to limits and signage first proposed in December.
Road superintendent Greg Delfosse had been concerned the desired speed limit of 40km/h on urban side streets could be unenforceable without speed signs on every street.
Councillor John Brennan had asked whether the town should post special signs at the urban boundaries in order to set the default limit at 40km/h.
After investigation, Delfosse reported on Feb. 5 that the 2014 version of the speed bylaw makes the 40 limit enforceable without extra signs either on the urban border or individual streets.
Council has approved a new set of revisions to the bylaw that will make new changes and correct problems in parts of the municipality where signs have not matched the bylaw.
After some limits were changed in 2014, staff did not change the signs. In general, the default limit is 60 in rural areas and 40 in urban areas, unless signed otherwise.
Areas where inaccurate signs will be replaced in order to conform to the bylaw are: 9th Line south of Erin village to Wellington Road 42, changing from 80 to 60; sections of 2nd Line south of Wellington Road 22, from 80 to 60; a section of 5th Line from Cedar Valley to Wellington Road 22, changing from 40 to 60; and Sideroad 17, from Trafalgar Road to Wellington Road 23, changing from 50 to 60.
There are other areas where both the bylaw and signs will change: 2nd Line from Sideroad 27 to Wellington Road 22, changing to 60; 2nd Line from Anderson Close to Wellington Road 124, changing to 50; 8th Line from Sideroad 17 to Dundas Street West, changing to 50; and the Erin/East Garafraxa Townline, from 2nd Line to 400 metres west of 3rd Line, changing to 60.
There are 15 road segments where the sign shows the desired speed, even though a different speed is listed in the bylaw. In these cases, the bylaw will be amended to match the signs.
This situation applies to sections of Erin/Eramosa Townline; 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th Lines; Sideroads 15, 24 and 27; and Dundas Street East and Orangeville Street.
More details are available in the Feb. 5 agenda.
