Concerns with speed change

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

At the Aug. 20 Wheatland County council meeting, residents who voiced concerns about the recent rise in speed limits to 100 kilometres (km) on some county roads were glad to see that county council acted on their concerns.
Traffic control bylaw 2019-20 was discussed in Wheatland County council on Aug. 20, to update the bylaw and incorporate changed speed limits in approved areas around the county in April.
Former Wheatland County councillor Ken Sauve brought concerns about the speed changes to Township Road 232, Highway 817 and Highway 1, specifically the Hammer Hill road.
“My concern is not so much with the traffic there; we knew there would be a lot of extra traffic when the road was paved, and with that, whatever extra traffic brings. But my concern is the safety on that road,” said Sauve. “I knew there would be semi-trailers on the road, grain haulers, and cattle liners or fertilizer hauling, but now we are getting transport trucks out of the City of Calgary that use that road to get to the number one (highway).”
He couldn’t understand why the trucks wouldn’t use Highway 1 or Highway 22X, but he said the problem is increasing. He considered the increased speed limit to 100 km might make it attractive for this type of traffic. He said there are sight-line problems and no turn-off areas for the larger trucks on the road. He said by keeping the speed lower than 100 km, it would increase safety on that road. Sauve also asked for more police patrols in off-hours because adherence to the speed limits was not occurring.
County resident Debbie Janzen said Wheatland County staff looked at the residents’ approaches along Township Road 232 of the Namaka road and agreed they needed updating. She and other residents also requested reduced speeds for that portion of the road.
Danielle Paddock, Wheatland County’s transportation and infrastructure general manager, said staff evaluated the Namaka road and recommended, for safety reasons, that speeds should not be changed as people have become accustomed to the increased speed limit.
“There are a few other safety concerns we have that I forgot to mention last time,” said Paddock. “We are talking about five driveways back-to-back with no visibility, a high speed limit and the ability to pass in one spot.”
She said promised signage was not yet installed to indicate hidden driveways.
Councillor Glenn Koester said that in the past, residents had concerns over speed changes, like on the Rockyford road. Council had taken measures to address resident concerns and lowered limits to address those concerns. He also had concerns about drawing unwanted heavy vehicle traffic from other areas.
“Our speed limits are contributing to other traffic than our own residents,” said Koester. “It is not our role to build traffic for outsiders. It is for our own residents. If it is contributing to that I would like something to be done, like more surveillance.”
He suggested reducing the limit should be done to address residents’ concerns, and he wouldn’t support the bylaw as it is now.
Councillor Tom Ikert felt the speed at 100 km was OK, but there should be signage to indicate the hidden driveways. Councillor Jason Wilson said more signage was needed to indicate that the road is adjacent to a hamlet. Councillor Ben Armstrong said he had no resident objections to increased limits on the Duck Lake road (Range Road 182-183, Township Road 252) but he supported the speed limit changes in other areas to address resident concerns. Reeve Amber Link said both Hammer Hill roads and the Namaka roads had factual evidence against changes.
“My challenge for me, and my preference as a representative for ratepayers in our area, is to go with the engineering reports. The engineering report is suggesting that because we changed the speed limit that we maintain that speed limit,” said Link. “I have significant concerns about safety in the area, but I am relying on the professional information provided by the engineers, so it is challenging.”
She agreed that more signage could be put in, along with passing lanes, vertical curves and school bus turnouts.
Council passed third reading with an amendment to the bylaw to modify speed limits on Schedule G for a portion of Hammer Hill road and an area of one km on each side of Namaka, with reduced speed to 80 km. Engineers were asked to re-evaluate roads for problems around passing lanes and sight lines on vertical curves.