Speed signs

By Brady Grove, Times Reporter

Strathmore town council approved the purchase of four solar powered radar signs to be used by local law enforcement to help educate and raise awareness of speeding citizens in school zones.
Since July, the town had been renting four signs at a cost of $1,400 per month, as part of a pilot project. They will now purchase the radar signs at a cost of about $4,400 per sign.
“It’s an educational tool to remind people they are in a playground or school zone,” said Teresa Fuchs, Town of Strathmore bylaw officer, who briefed council. “It’s not for writing tickets … (it) shows us if there is a problem area where we need to do more enforcement.”
Speeding in playgrounds and school zones was brought to the attention of council who then approved the pilot project. There was some debate between councillors about when and how many signs would be purchased. Eventually council approved the purchase of four signs from the Financial Stabilization Reserve and forwarded a decision on an additional four signs to the next council budget.
The signs operate by flashing the numbers of a driver’s speed at one km/h ovrt the limit. If a driver’s speed continues to rise, a strobe light will flash at five km over the speed limit to further let the driver know they are speeding. The signs can be moved. During the test phase, they were located on Lakeside Boulevard, Parkland Drive, Brent Boulevard, Centennial Drive and Hillview Drive from July to September.
There was some concern that the signs could be used as photo radar, but according to Fuchs, the signs are primarily designed to inform drivers of their speed. Fuchs said from Aug. 28 to Sept. 20, the sign on Lakeside Boulevard counted about 46,646 vehicles.
“I was just amazed with how much traffic there was,” said Fuchs.
Golden Hills School Division No. 75 is very supportive of the signs, which are located near many of their schools, and they have been consulting with the town since the beginning of the program.
“We’ve had direct conversations with the town about some of the concerns and challenges we’ve had with students crossing the road on Brent Boulevard,” said Superintendent Bevan Daverne. “From time to time, we’ve had challenges with cars going too fast on that road.”