By Mark McAllister
This time the blog is not about trying to offer something newsworthy, enlightening or even poignant about communities connecting in any way. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s about keeping it simple and offering a topic of conversation everyone can relate to in one form or another. Speed humps.
They’re everywhere in this city and certainly serve a purpose by trying to keep some drivers from zooming through residential neighbourhoods at top speeds. Others, however, simply have to deal with what turns out to be a children’s roller coaster ride on side streets while getting from A to B.
It doesn’t matter if you call them humps, bumps or “traffic calming” devices. What matters is that you know to keep your speed in check when going through the area.
Not to worry if you’re only on two wheels but those behind the wheel are supposed to know better. There are reasons why the extra asphalt is piled onto the road in the first place.
Believe it or not, Toronto’s transportation services department generally installs more than 100 humps on the city’s streets every year. Many of which are based on community requests to do so. It’s a long and arduous process that involves petitions, surveys and technical studies. In the end, at least 50% of addresses that would be affected have to respond and 60% of those who do must support the idea.
At a recent community council meeting, a couple of residents along Eileen Avenue near the Lambton Golf and Country Club in Etobicoke came forth to make their case. They insisted humps were needed on their dead end street despite a lack of feedback from other property owners. A little coercing from Councillor Frances Nunziata and the case was made. Two new ways to drop speeds by at least 10 kilometres an hour.
While putting a story about the need for crossing guards together recently, it was easy for me to see that traffic speed is an issue that hits home for many. Families with young children making the trek to and from school every day don’t want to have to worry about a car coming out of nowhere. The sound generated by vehicle taking short cuts through the community is never pleasant either.
Bottom line, nothing is more important than keeping our city streets safe for everyone. It’s unfortunate that those in charge feel the need to install hundreds of humps and raise sections of our roads. It would also be ideal if the police didn’t have to use radar guns and step out into the street on occasion. That’s another rant altogether.
The reality, though, is that speed humps are here for a reason. They may not look pretty or feel great when forced to travel over them, but our neighbourhoods are better off because of them.
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