At its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 1, Pelham Town Council unanimously voted to implement speed mitigation measures on Haist Street north of Highway 20, while also asking for a report regarding the feasibility of dropping all speed limits inside the urban boundary of Pelham to 40 kilometres per hour.
Several municipalities in Ontario have reduced speed limits in built-up areas to 40 from the historically standard 50 kilometres per hour in recent years, but it hasn’t come without some complaints. The staff report that recommended dropping the speed limit from 60 to 50 on Haist even alluded to the potential of increased “aggressive behaviors” by some drivers.
Ward 2 Councillor Brian Eckhardt, a former local police officer, took issue with that verbiage.
“I profoundly disagree with the assertion that many drivers will disobey limits,” he said, while backing the idea of dropping other speed limits to 40.
Describing Pelham as having a “mishmash” of speed limits, he also asserted he has timed drives through town at both 40 and 50 kilometres per hour, and that the difference was “negligible.”
Eckhardt then took something of a swipe at his former employers, the Niagara Regional Police, following their recent statement that they issued 20 tickets for various infractions on both Port Robinson Road and Station Street through the first 10 months of the year.
“I hope they’re not bragging about that, because that’s about two a month, and I think you could be giving out about 10 in one morning there,” he said.
Ward 1 Councillor Kevin Ker said that he has heard complaints from both sides of the issue.
“Society has moved into a phase where everybody’s impatient about everything it seems,” he said. “Ninety-five percent of the people are law-abiding, but it’s something we hear as much about as anything.”
Ward 3 Councillor Shellee Niznik also voiced support for dropping limits to 40, citing last weekend’s second rollover of a speeding luxury car at the exact same spot on Welland Road in less than four months.
“I think we can make it 40 kilometres an hour in this town,” Niznik said.
As far as Haist goes, the speed limit will be dropped from 60 to 50 on the hilly portion between Highway 20 and Metler.
Additionally, “speed cushions” will be installed on flatter portions of the stretch. Speed cushions differ from speed bumps insofar as they allow emergency vehicles with wider wheelbases to pass through them without slowing down as much as standard vehicles. Made of rubber, two sets of speed cushions are costed at approximately $8,000.
Public Works Manager Ryan Cook said that care will have to be taken as to where exactly the cushions will be placed on Haist, as putting them on hilly sections would actually make the road less safe. Cook added that if the cushions work on Haist, more could be seen elsewhere around town in the future.
