A new community safety zone could be on its way to a residential street in west Orillia.
With an elementary school and a park along the street, councillors Jay Fallis and Jeff Czetwerzuk have requested a city staff report on the potential for a community safety zone along Atlantis Drive between Clayt French Park and Highway 12.
Community safety zones generally feature a speed limit of 40 km/h, in effect seven days per week, and carry increased fines for speeding compared to other areas, and Fallis previously noted he has heard numerous constituent complaints about speeding on the two roads.
The councillors recently attempted to garner support for community safety zones on two other west Orillia streets, but failed to gain the support of their peers.
“Counter to the previous one, this is actually something that, in conversations with staff, staff had maybe identified as a potential,” Fallis said at a recent council meeting. “With most of the schools we have in the city, there are community safety zones, so this is meant to accommodate this spot as well.”
Fallis and Czetwerzuk gained their colleagues’ support for a report back to council on the idea, which will also require consultation with the Township of Oro-Medonte and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO).
“Notre Dame (Catholic School) itself is on a shared roadway between Orillia and Oro-Medonte. Additionally, because it’s so close to Highway 12, the Ministry of Transportation also has to get involved, so it is quite a process,” Fallis said.
“I think some of the additional challenges around the shared roadway and working with the MTO prevented this from coming forward initially.”
