By Mark Squibb
Mount Pearl councillors last week approved a new traffic calming policy they hope will make it easier for residents to bring traffic concerns to the attention of City staff.
“The City of Mount Pearl’s Traffic Calming Policy has been developed in response to growing community concerns regarding vehicle speeding, shortcutting, and overall traffic safety in residential areas,” explained councillor Bill Antle. “Rooted in best practices from the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC), the policy provides a structured, transparent, and data-driven framework to assess and address traffic-related issues.”
Several councillors spoke in favour of the new policy.
“I’m so happy this is coming in, because we have got a speeding issue in the city,” said councillor Mark Rice, adding the policy will allow residents greater input into the City’s traffic calming.
“This is a direct endeavour to really support more safe streets, in a way in which people can talk about, highlight, or acknowledge where there are safety issues and speeding issues,” concurred Deputy Mayor Nicole Kieley, who pointed out further that not every issue will have the same solution.
“What I appreciate about this policy is that it’s flexible,” said Kieley. “It looks at every scenario in its own unique way, but first and foremost is safety.”
The deputy mayor said speeding remains a number one concern among residents.
Councillor Jim Locke praised the policy’s “systematic approach to issues.”
“It’s a very thorough policy, and as the deputy mayor indicated, there are different measures depending on the issues — speed bumps, speed humps, curve outs, all these different things, so this is a very systematic approach to assess the issue and then develop the appropriate measure.” said Locke.
Councillor Isabelle Fry, meanwhile, asked for clarification on how a resident would go about having a traffic concern addressed.
Scott Batt, Director of Engineering and Development, said the policy can be found on the City’s website or folks can pick up a hardcopy at City Hall. Once a resident submits a concern to the City, staff will follow up as per the new policy.
Councillor Chelsea Lane applauded the policy but contested the claim that Mount Pearl has a speeding issue.
“I don’t think, as a city as a whole, we have a speeding issue,” said Lane. “I think there are isolated areas in the city where speeding is more prevalent. But, as a whole, I don’t think we have any more of a speeding issue than any other municipality.”
Mayor Dave Aker meanwhile, noted the policy has technically been in effect for a time already but was only now being made available to the public.
Council approved the policy unanimously.