Despite a number of awareness campaigns since 2018, speeding remains an issue on residential streets in Beaconsfield, Que., according to city administration.
City council hopes to pump the brakes with its adoption of a speed reduction action plan.
The new plan, if approved, would see an investment of $375,000 put towards traffic calming infrastructure.
“Stop signs, raised intersections — we have it all. But now we are focusing on with this plan on the real problem areas we have identified with this study,” Mayor Georges Bourelle said.
READ MORE: Laval street to get speed bumps after numerous complaints from residents
Using findings from 24 years of traffic studies the city will be targeting a number of problem areas.
While specific locations were not divulged, roads near school zones and parks will be top of the agenda Bourelle said.
“The 30-kilometer zones are the real problem areas,” Bourelle said.
Streets like Beaurepaire Drive and Elm Avenue could be candidates for speed cushions, which are a flattened speed bump that will not hinder emergency vehicles.
Having traffic calming measures is long overdue on Elm Avenue, according to resident Chantal Pare.
She said she has been witness to street racing late at night on a regular basis.
“I can hear them from my bedroom window. They are not stopping they are just going straight through the sign and you can hear their motors running. Street racing on Elm Avenue,” Pare said.
She says the problem has never been addressed and hopes this action will reduce speed on the straightaway.
“Either they will slow down or they will break their transmission. Either way I’ll be happy,” Pare said.
READ MORE: West Island communities struggling to pump the brakes on speeding
Mayoral candidate Johanne Hudon Armstrong says the timing of the announcement is convenient.
“Of course he pulls out all the stops a month ahead of the election,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong agrees speeding has been an issue for years in Beaconsfield, an issue that hasn’t been addressed.
Armstrong says taking 24 years to conduct a study on the “obvious problem” is too long.
“If it takes 24 years to do a study there is something wrong with the study,” Armstrong said.
READ MORE: Near-miss car crash in Laval has residents calling for traffic calming measures
The action plan suggests a number of speed-mitigation measures installed including, 15 speed humps, 19 sets of speed cushions, six raised intersections, six chokers, six additional street lights, and two lane reduction islands.
City council will be voting on the action plan at the next meeting set after the Nov. 7 election.
If approved, Bourelle says construction could begin as early as next spring.
Comments