Township will consult with Manitoulin OPP Detachment, Central Manitoulin on issue
KAGAWONG—A group of residents on the Monument Road located within Billings Township who have petitioned for speed limits on the road due to safety concerns have received support from Billings council and will consult with the municipality of Central Manitoulin and the Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on the issue, this despite concerns raised by one councillor that a speed sign survey done on the road in June of this year does not show many people have been speeding.
“I am in support of the petition we have received,” said Councillor Vince Grogan at a council meeting last week. “My biggest concern is safety. We know that in the township on Highway 540 drivers going 90 kilometres per hour does not present a huge problem. But on the side roads this is a problem.”
Councillor Michael Hunt and Jim Cahill also expressed their support of the concerns and the petition calling for lower speed limits.
“On the speed data statistics, only 65 of the 3,994 vehicles, or two percent, were actually found to be speeding,” said Councillor Dave Hillyard. “Without official data on the full road, including the portion in Central Manitoulin, there is not enough data. We need more evidence to justify this. If 50 percent of the drivers had been speeding it would be (justified) but with only 63 vehicles having been found going above 80-85 km speed range that is an enforcement issue,” he said pointing out, “the majority of the road has speed limits less than 50 kilometres per hour.”
“Before we make a decision to change the speed limits, we need to get more feedback from Central Manitoulin and the OPP,” said Councillor Hillyard.
Mayor Bryan Barker pointed out the recommended motion was to consult with both Central Manitoulin and the OPP before taking a final position. He explained that “On May 17 CAO/Clerk Emily Dance received an email from Rex Barker concerning speeding vehicles on Monument Road. Rex is requesting that the speed limit be reduced from 80 kilometres to 60 kilometres on the three-kilometre section of road between John Street (in Billings) to the Central Manitoulin boundary. Mr. Ward had drafted a petition (signed by nine other residents in the area) to sign and at the end of the summer season would be sending it to staff. The completed petition was received on October 3.
In order to gather speed data the township placed its mobile electronic speed sign that posts vehicle speeds as they pass by as well as collects data on the number of vehicles and their speeds, continued Mayor Barker. The public works department placed the speed sign on this section of Monument Road for the month of June.
It was noted the majority of Monument Road is within the boundaries of Central Manitoulin. The portion of Monument Road in Billings is roughly five kilometres in length. The majority of residents on this portion of road are seasonal as it runs along Lake Mindemoya.
Data was collected from the speed sign on Monument Road between June 5-30. The report gives a count of the total number of cars that travelled past the speed sign during this time (count of 3994) in five -kilometre grouping; two percent of vehicles travelling past the speed sign were travelling at and above the speed limit (80 kilometres per hour and higher) and 28 percent above 60 kilometres per hour (60 kilometres per hour and higher).
It was further pointed out if the speed limit were to be lowered from 80 to 60 kilometres, speed limit signs would need to be installed at both ends of Monument Road within Billings Township and the township traffic and parking bylaw would need to be updated.
Councillor Grogan said the speed signs were not in place during the peak season. “The majority of local residents respect the speed limits, but it is in months like July and August that maybe we would see the number of people speeding increasing.”
Council passed a motion in support of a staff recommendation that the township of Billings approves the report and receive the petition from the property owners on Monument Road and will consult with Central Manitoulin and the OPP on the concerns.
