Something needs to change
Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter
Christie Meyers wasn’t sure what to expect when she went before Town council on July 21. Meyers had gone to speak to council about making changes to Centre Street in regards to the safety issues posed. A car on Centre Street hit Meyers’ daughter Karlee just a few months ago. Meyers herself was hit by a car on the same street when she was younger. She would like to see stop signs, or reduced speed limits, on her street so she can feel safe again.
“I can’t see putting in three way stops or lowering speed limits,” said Mayor George Lattery.
Councillor Bob Sobol made a motion to request, a peace officer monitors Centre Street for the period of one month. Council wants to be sure people are speeding as much as Meyers says before making a decision.
“A lot of this has to do with enforcement and education of residents,” said Sobol. Council is hesitant to make any decisions right now until they have the results from the peace officer and are able to make an informed decision. “I don’t have a problem with the stop signs, it’s just I never thought of it. I had thought of lowering the speed limit. But you got to make sure if you’re lowering the speed limit you got somebody there monitoring it, because lowering it doesn’t do anything unless you are enforcing it,” said Councillor Lois Wegener.
“I’m glad they’re going to take some action and look at it, and that I had the support of a few councillors,” said Meyers. Council promised to start monitoring the road the next day, and sure enough Meyers said a peace officer was outside her home the next day.
“It did slow down the traffic as he was there, but it picked up again when he left,” said Meyers. She thinks the fact the officer was noticeable from down the road helped to warn people he was there, and she would like to see him more hidden in the future. Council will be meeting again at the end of August to discuss what should be done with Centre Street.