How many members of city road crews does it take to remove a few 30 km/h speed limit signs? Apparently way more than it took to have them installed in the first place.
Members of Edmonton City Council’s community services committee admitted frustration on Wednesday at the slow pace — in a few instances — with which signs outside of playgrounds, that are a sufficient enough distance away from main roadways, are being corrected.
Councillor Michael Walters told the meeting he’s been hearing from “communities that are frustrated or confused about the time it’s taking to remove some of the zones, that we recognized and identified were not necessary some months ago.”
“[It] took us literally less than a few months to get them all installed and this is the reasonable and ongoing question I’m receiving… ‘Why is it taking so long to take a few down?'”
It appeared that a report from city staff explaining the lack of action, even though there was consensus months ago to make the changes, wouldn’t be before councillors until the new year. That wasn’t good enough for some, so Councillor Tim Cartmell asked that the report be added instead to an upcoming council meeting.
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No one from city operations was on hand to answer councillors’ questions on Wednesday.
After the meeting, Cartmell told reporters each councillor has what he guesses adds up to 20 to 30 locations city-wide that need changing back to 50 km/h or 60 km/h.
“What administration did was go and speak to every councillor and find out which anomalies each councillor had identified,” he said. “So I’ve had that discussion a few weeks ago with administration — I think all councillors have.
“So I’m not really sure what the delay is to simply get on with taking them out.”
The location that gives him the most complaints is Riverbend Road, outside of Ramsay Park.
“There’s no compelling reason to slow down along what is essentially an open field that very rarely has people in it,” Cartmell said. “It’s already served that field by two crosswalks, one at each corner of the field, so crossings should not be an issue and if we want to enhance the crosswalk part of it, that’s a crosswalk question, not a speed zone question.
“Some people try to follow the letter of the law and slow down to 30 which is quite slow for a road that feels like it should be 60,” Cartmell added. “There’s others that simply say, ‘I’m not doing that,’ and continue to drive fast. There’s a plethora of signs.
“So between all of that, we’ve sort of lost the plot which is watch out for people that might be trying to cross the road. Instead you’re watching that guy riding your bumper or you’re looking for the signs.”
Councillor Andrew Knack also wanted the problem dealt with, so it has been added to the city council meeting on Nov. 27 where operations staff will be on hand to answer the lingering questions.
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