LITTLE CURRENT—Following a petition put forward by Meredith Street residents in Little Current regarding their concerns with excessive speeders, council for the Northeast Town approved a traffic study to be carried out. Council heard the results of that study late last month which resulted in a “do nothing” approach.
Engineer Toivo Rukholm of Tranplan Associates conducted the research, which involved studying the data from the municipality’s radar machine, which was placed near the five-way intersection on Meredith Street in October and November of last year. The radar was also placed along Blake Street East and Draper Street East, the streets on which Little Current Public School sits, and its data studied by Tranplan as well. All Little Current streets have a 40 km/h speed limit.
The radar data showed that for Meredith Street westbound traffic, the average speed was 33 km/h (45 km/h 85th percentile); eastbound traffic was 35 km/h (47 km/h 85th percentile). Blake Street westbound traffic was average 33 km/h (43 km/h 85th percentile), eastbound was 27 km/h (40 km/h 85th percentile). Draper Street westbound traffic was an average of 29 km/h (42 km/h 85th percentile); eastbound traffic was 31 km/hr (45 km/h 85th percentile).
Mr. Rukholm explained that the “85th percentile speed is a key indicator of the speeds along a roadway. It indicates that 85 percent of the motorists drive at or slower than the recorded speed with a fringe 15 percent driving faster.”
In the case of Blake Street East, “Compared to residential streets in communities across Ontario, these are exceptionally good readings in terms of adhering to the 40 km/h speed limit,” the engineer states. “The Draper Street East readings are slightly higher but still compare very favourable against speeds observed in the other communities.”
While Mr. Rukholm said his findings pointed to a non-urgent problem on Little Current streets, “simple numerical data may not reveal the total picture. The data itself may be limited by the automated collection methodology that does not account for platooning. There may also be specific traffic characteristics that are not revealed by the radar data, but require community consultation. These community consultations could include discussion about potential traffic calming measures and determining community reaction to specific measures.”
The engineer went on to note that any traffic calming measures (such as lane narrowings, chicanes, raised crosswalks, speed bumps or humps or roundabouts) should not be implemented without “strong indication of resident support.”
Within the September 2023 survey, Meredith Street residents asked council to consider the placement of removable speed humps during the non-winter months.
Council discussed the survey at length, with Councillor George Williamson likening the Meredith Street West section from the five-way intersection to Highway 540 to a “dragway.”
In the end, it was decided that the municipality would contact the Ontario Provincial Police and ask them to place their less visible radar sign in areas of concern within the municipality for further data.
Bob McDonald, the Meredith Street resident who began the petition, said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome, saying the radar sign should have been placed in a spot further from a stop sign when drivers were already starting to slow their speed.
“I didn’t really think anything would come of it, I just wanted to see if we’d get the speed slowed down,” he added. “I had half of Meredith Street concerned about it.”
The cost of the study was approximately $3,330.
