COUNTY OF WELLINGTON - A county councillor is calling the council to discuss the implementation of automated speed enforcement in community safety and school zones throughout Wellington County.
At Thursday’s meeting, Coun. Gregg Davidson gave a notice of motion directing county staff to complete a cost and benefit study of automated speed enforcement for council to look over and have further discussions on.
Davidson explained that all lower-tier municipalities in Wellington County are concerned about the safety and wellbeing of its residents and visitors around the issues of speeding in community safety and school zones.
He believes that automated speed enforcement can address the ongoing issues the county is experiencing around speeding.
“Speeding is a major concern of Wellington County residents and automated speed enforcement provides an effective means of ensuring road safety and compliance with the law,” said Davidson.
“Evidence-based research indicates that the use of automated speed enforcement reduces the overall speed on effective roadways and therefore has the potential to enhance road safety.”
Davidson wants county staff to complete a cost and benefit analysis of both permanent locations or by rotation of cameras in community safety and school zones; he also wants staff to continuously have discussions with municipalities on the study and bring back all the reports to the roads committee for further discussion.
Simultaneously, council approved the RMAP report at the meeting, which issued community safety zones around areas in Wellington County suffering from speeding and traffic concerns such as the following county roads:
- Wellington Road 18 in Fergus, which stretches from Highway 6 to Orangeville Road
- Wellington Road 123 in Palmerston, from Wellington Road 8 to Wellington Road 5
- Wellington Road 11 in Drayton, which goes from Andrews Drive to Wellington Road 8
- Wellington Road 7 in Elora and Salem, which goes from Ross Street to 1st Line
- Wellington Road 24 in Hillsburgh, from Church Street to Jane Street
- Wellington Road 46 in Aberfoyle, from Wellington Road 34 to Gilmour Road
- Wellington Road 18 in Elora and Salem, which stretches from Wellington Road 21 to Chapel Street
- Wellington Road 124 in Erin, which goes from Ross Street to Wellington Road 52
- Wellington Road 6 in Mount Forest, which is along Highway 6 and London Road
Warden Kelly Linton explained that the council will have further discussions around the notice of motion at the Feb. 24 county council meeting.
