Rural road speed limits will mostly remain the same

Speed limits on several rural roads in town will remain as is, after councillors denied a recommendation for speed limit reduction.

The recommendations had come before council previously under a separate report that was deferred, but reappeared at the July 7 meeting under a proposed update to the consolidated traffic bylaw.

Concerns Councillor Nick Dubanow had originally raised that led to the deferral resonated with other councillors on Monday.

“I’m not in favour of reducing speed limits just for the sake of reducing speed limits,” he said, pointing out his specific issues were with planned changes to Michener Road, Ott Road and Townline Road.

The town recently completed a rural roads speed limit study. The results included recommendations to lower limits on four roads, increase limits on 16 roads and leave another 10 unchanged. Fort Erie agreed to reduce the limits on the four roads in question, but did nothing with the remaining roads.

“At that time, staff chose not to pursue any of the recommended speed increases, in part due to ongoing public concerns. Residents continue to express strong opposition to increasing speed limits, and staff routinely receive requests to reduce, rather than raise, speed limits throughout the community,” the report said.

However, Dubanow argues that speed limits, especially on rural roads with little to no police presence, do nothing to improve safety. Instead, he said it’s road design, condition and other factors that lead people to slow down.

Some of the rationale behind reducing the speed limits was to ensure consistency for longer stretches instead of having a road’s speed limits fluctuate seemingly on a whim.

In that case, Dubanow said the town should increase limits to gain consistency and be more in line with the rural roads speed limit study. He said there’s no point in spending money on these studies if they’re not then going to take the findings to heart.

Another reason for the proposed decreases weren’t about motorist behaviour but instead to fix issues staff have with minimum maintenance standards.

Speed limits can play a role in those minimum standards, which are dictated by the province, and can force crews to spend more attention on low-use roads when it comes to snow removal or maintenance.

Councillors did approve some changes to the bylaw, including some administrative updates along with changes to seasonal parking restrictions for Waterfront Park regular events.

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