Squire St. resident Doug Bliss speaking to council about a petition that asks the town to install two speed bumps. Peter Higham is seated behind him
A longtime resident of Squire Street in Sackville says he’s disappointed with the way Tantramar council and staff have dealt with a petition from residents complaining of excessive speeding and noise on their street.
Retired Mount Allison Music Librarian Peter Higham helped gather the 17 signatures on the petition, which was sent to Mayor Andrew Black and members of council, CAO Jennifer Borne, RCMP Sergeant Eric Hanson and Bylaw Enforcement Officer Corey Springer on July 4th.
During the question period at this week’s council committee meeting, Doug Bliss, the current chair of the climate change advisory committee, who also lives on Squire Street, called on Council to respond to the residents’ concerns.
“We want to stress the urgency to the residents of Squire Street about the chronic speed problem which has gone on for two decades since a previous council installed a parking ban on the street,” Bliss said.
The petition calls on the town to install two speed bumps on Squire Street, 100 and 300 metres from where it meets Bridge Street.
Bliss took issue with Assistant Town Clerk Becky Goodwin’s report to Council on the petition and the effectiveness of speed bumps. Goodwin’s report cites one article from an American company that sells radar signs and is critical of speed humps.
Bliss said the article is not actually a “white paper” or research paper, as the company and Goodwin describe it, but only anecdotal information.
Assistant Town Clerk Becky Goodwin presenting her report on the Squire St. petition
During her report to council on the Squire Street petition, Goodwin cited the radar sign company’s list of “shortcomings and frustrations associated with speed humps” including that they are “expensive to install and maintain”, that they slow up emergency vehicles, increase “wear and tear on commercial and residential vehicles” and “reduce fuel efficiency and increase gas consumption forcing drivers to brake and accelerate repeatedly.”
Her report contained no other sources to evaluate the effectiveness of speed bumps.
She said that instead of installing speed bumps, the town would put a radar sign on Squire Street temporarily to collect data on speeding.
Town engineer Jon Eppell said the sign could be ready within a week and he too criticized speed bumps on the grounds that they interfere with snow plowing.
“The difficulty with speed bumps, like any other potential obstruction in the path of the snow plow, is that it may cause the plow blade to fetch up, damaging the equipment, jolting the driver, potentially knocking it off track,” he said.
For his part, Doug Bliss urged the town to keep an open mind and to share with the residents data it gathers on speeding.
In an e-mail today to Warktimes, Peter Higham shared information he gathered on Squire Street involving a noisy, speeding motorcycle at 56 separate times from July 8th to July 30th on afternoons, evenings and at night.
He also sent a submission he was told would be given to members of council before their meeting this week, but he notes that it was not included in Council’s package of background documents.
“I guess we were not expecting too much to come out of the meeting, but this outcome seems particularly disappointing,” Higham wrote.
To read Goodwin’s report to council and to view the Squire Street petition, click here.
To read a scientific study that acknowledges the controversy over speed bumps, but that also shows the installation of speed bumps in Toronto was associated with a a 26% reduction in pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions on local roads, click here.
To read a CBC report about the installation in Fredericton of speed cushions that do not interfere as much with emergency vehicles, click here.
Sackville had purchased three radar based speed indicator signs at the request of Town Council back about 10 years ago. The one they put up on Pond Shore Road near the Upper Sackville United Church lasted but a couple of days before it mysteriously disappeared, pole and all, in the dark of night.
A second one I saw lying in a ditch along Folkins Drive and it had the solar panel removed by whoever pulled it out of the ground. It was just screwed to a vertical wooden 4×4 post. I drove immediately to the Town Garage and reported that one. It also seemed that Public Works was always having trouble downloading information from the computers that are built into these models.
What about PHOTO RADAR CAMERAS utilizing the cloud for information and picture storage instead as it is now up to the municipalities here in NB whether they use them or not. Might I suggest a couple of them be installed on the Pond Shore Road (better known as Race Track Road) as well, on each side of the blind hill. Mount them high enough and on posts that cannot easily be removed from the ground. Photo Radar Cameras work!
I lived in Fredericton for 35 years, and many years ago they installed speed bumps on a number of downtown residential streets. They worked very well, and I don’t recall hearing any complaints about damage to vehicles or to plows etc. It certainly made the areas much safer for pedestrians especially. They have been using them successfully for many years now, and still continue to install more in different areas of the city.
For example, Douglas Ave in Fredericton North now has 2 regular speed bumps, and they are in the process of adding 9 ‘speed cushions’ by the end of this month, according to a CBC article on July 15 of this year. An accident earlier this year on Douglas Ave claimed the lives of 3 young people, which has spurred this latest action. You can read that article here – https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/traffic-calming-measures-fredericton-douglas-avenue-1.7262501
So, instead of researching everything from scratch, perhaps our local government needs to check with the city government in Fredericton to get more details on their experience with this issue. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, and much can be gained by learning from the experience of other NB municipalities.
Apparently, the research skills required to be Assistant Town Clerk are, “can Google and copy/paste the first thing that comes up.” Is this the kind of “research” that goes into important decisions affecting our lives? It’s no wonder this town has stalled and stuck in getting really anything meaningful done. Literally, is there anyone else who wants to be Assistant Town Clerk? Don’t worry, you’re probably qualified.
We have Mother Nature speed bumps ( aka potholes) on the Rockport rd..does absolutely nothing to slow down trucks, cars, atvs and dirt bikes! I think speed is a problem everywhere on local roads. Tax payer installed speed bumps should only be afforded to school zones and parks where there are casual pedestrians and children. Otherwise, if they were installed on Squire St..it would set a precedence that every single road in Tantramar would be entitled to the same.
Higgs should be the speed bump.
This discussion comes back regularly. Perhaps it’s time to follow what many in Sackville want (and what other municipalities in Canada have already done) and reduce the speed limit to 30 km on residential streets and 20 km in marked school zones. The benefits of reducing the speed limit are well documented. It’s a simple policy that can save lives and prevent life-altering injuries to cyclists and pedestrians.
Sidewalk chalk in large letters S L O W at a few different points on the road helps.
We’re talking here about the consciousness of the drivers/vehicle operators..
and most likely we’re talking about younger people speeding.
Using some chalk in a few places along the street is worth the time and attention and effort in front of your home Mr. Bliss and Mr. Higham.. you can purchase some at the local Dollar Store and give it a try one afternoon if you have some time.. I’ll do the first ones so you will know I’ve been pro-active.. it’s something I did when my children were younger and realized yes there are the occasional speeders who rip through and yes it is a concern.. you’re not wrong on this topic at all. This exercise is the least expensive and perhaps the least considered.. I have commented on this approach before in the past in the comments section of this website – please pay heed to my words.
Speed bumps work in cities and towns in North America and Europe as do reduced speed limits. Council has faced this issue before indeed, on the same street. The reason nothing is not done is if they do it on one street, other streets will want the same treatment. As well, some folks appear to enjoy speeding and making noice while they do it. For the record in my professional career, (now over) I have visited 43 countries. Rest assured that nothing will happen on this issue. I have lived on Squire Street for over 29 years and speeding and noise have always been a problem.