There seems to be a renewed call for lower speed limits in certain areas of Estevan.
There was a poll on the Estevan Mercury’s website last week that showed 63 per cent of respondents thought there should be lower speed limits on certain residential roads. A jeer in last week’s Lifestyles called out those who drive too fast on roads such as Petterson Drive.
And then there was a presentation at last week’s meeting of the Estevan board of police commissioners, in which 10-year-old Boston Tait appeared and called for the reduced speed zone on Victory Road to be extended, making it safer for students at Pleasantdale School. He even had a petition with him.
Granted, you might scoff at a 10-year-old talking about the driving habits of others, since he’s more than five years away from getting his driver’s licence. But it is noteworthy that a 10-year-old boy is not only willing to take the time to create and deliver a presentation, but he recognizes that vehicles are moving too fast on his street.
A 50-kilometre per hour (km/h) speed limit is fine for most roads in Estevan. Not just the arterial roads, either. There are a lot of secondary residential roads where a 50 km/h speed limit is perfectly acceptable, unless there’s a playground zone or a school zone. Then the speed limit should be reduced.
Wellock Road is a perfect example of this. It’s wide enough for the speed limit to be 50 km/h. And while there are some turns, those turns aren’t sharp enough to justify having a lower speed limit.
But in the area where the Pleasantdale Softball Diamonds are located, there’s a lower speed limit, and deservedly so.
You’d also never think of lowering the speed limit on an arterial road that cuts through a residential area, such as King Street or Fourth Street.
But on Petterson Drive? Or Victory Road? Or some of the other tight, winding, residential roads such as Thorn Crscent and Grundeen Crescent? It’s time to consider a change.
These aren’t arterial roads, although the northern ends of Petterson Drive do see a lot of traffic thanks to their proximity to shopping areas. But if you’re down at the south end of Petterson, with its sharp turns and abundance of houses, you’ll see it’s not a lead foot’s haven.
It’s an area that doesn’t have much in the way of visibility. A 40 km/h limit south of Heritage Drive would be reasonable.
A road like Thorn Crescent, which was built in a very narrow fashion and has a few turns to navigate, might be better off at 30 km/h.
Back in the 2012 civic election, there was a non-binding plebiscite on whether the speed limit for non-arterial roads should be lowered to 40 km/h. It had a very narrow margin of victory, and the strongest support was from mobile and special polling stations.
Council eventually decided not to heed the results. Not many people complained.
If you ask most people who live on Thorn Crescent, Petterson Drive and Victory Road, they would likely tell you they support lower speed limits. In the case of Thorn, it’s unlikely you get many non-local drivers.
As for Victory Road, most of the non-local traffic is likely due to the school.
While we can’t base speed limits and other traffic-related issues strictly on the whims of local ratepayers, we do need to hear their concerns, regardless of whether they’re 10 years old or 80 years old.
