Drivers in Tiny Township will have to practise restraint now that council has approved speed-limit reductions across the board.
Elected officials approved reductions to 50km/h on 10 roads in the municipality. The project requires including $20,000 in the 2021 budget for sign posting.
"A lot of these came up through resident requests," said Jean-Francois Robitaille, engineering manager. "Some of them came up through sign inventory last year and some are just staff observations."
The township recently finished putting in multi-use lanes on Concession 5 West, he said, and that made it a good candidate for speed reduction.
Mayor George Cornell asked about the criteria for reducing the speed limits.
"In most cases, it's a safety concern," said Robitaille. "For example, on Silver Birch Drive, there are more entrances than there used to be, so it makes sense to reduce the speed. Canal Drive has lots of pedestrians."
Speed limits haven't been posted on a number of roads included in the list, he said.
"They rely on the Highway Traffic Act, which says the basic speed limit in a rural setting is 80km and 50km in urban settings," said Robitaille.
Deputy Mayor Steffen Walma wanted to know what is the procedure if a speed increase is requested and used Baseline Road South as an example.
"From Baseline (Road South) at the Concession 6, heading to Springwater (Township), it's at 60km," said Walma. "It was a gravel road and we've paved it since. Is it one of those scenarios where we could look at an increase into the 80km zone?"
The process would be the same, said Robitaille, adding, typically people are much more opposed to increasing speed limits rather than decreasing them.
"We would have a look at it and evaluate it for safety," he added. "There's a bridge on that part of Baseline, which probably led to the speed limit being 60km. It's much wider now."
Once the signs are up, Robitaille said the OPP will be informed about the enforcement aspect.
"Typically with the OPP, it's complaint based where they patrol," he said. "Once it's down to 60km/hr if there are lots of speeders, residents can call and complain."
