Citizens packed the Tay Township council chamber last night for a presentation by Joel Rumney regarding aggressive driving and dangerous speeds within municipal roads; specifically Old Fort Road prior to its traffic-halting bridge construction.
As a north-south bypass of the curving and variable-speed County Road 93 from Hillsdale to Midland, motorists in recent years have taken to the back roads of Tay along the arrow-straight path from Vasey to Port McNicoll.
Resident concerns along the 80-kilometre-per-hour stretch, of which motorists can often be found doing nearly 100 kph, prompted a visit by Rumney to Tay council as the community’s representative to plead for a reduction in speed; it was his third appearance over several decades of requests.
“More important than all the vehicles is their driving,” Rumney shared. “I think if you asked all of the people, the residents that have shown up at the meeting tonight, they have one or even 10 stories of close calls, aggressive driving, stunt driving, passing on the hill, horn honking, ‘get out of my way’. It’s become a real problem.”
According to Rumney, the closure of Old Fort Overhead Bridge at the Trans Canada Trail caused overflow traffic to spill onto Rumney Road and other neighbouring north-south routes, bringing their excessive speeders with them.
In the deputation, Rumney proposed: reduced speed limits from 80 kph down to 60 kph or even 40 kph throughout rural roads in the township; that data collection be obtained for traffic counts and speed through photo radar and increased monitoring; and traffic calming measures be looked at including ‘caution: active farming area’ signs on the roads.
However, such solutions are never so easy. Jurisdiction of speed limits on Old Fort Rd. fall under the County of Simcoe transportation and engineering department.
Attending the council meeting was Southern Georgian Bay OPP Insp. Todd Pittman, who was asked by Mayor Ted Walker to provide a direct response to Rumney’s and the audience’s concerns.
“One of the nicest things I think I’ve seen since I’ve been here is that data collection; that evidence-based approach," said Pittman, who added that knowing where to target would help mitigate traffic woes.
A resident shared an anecdote that a police officer in her driveway registered a speeder at 90 kph on Old Fort Road but told her he wouldn’t take action because it was only 10 kph over the limit; she reiterated a request to have the road speed reduced to 60 kph. Pittman sympathized.
“In the coming months, just because of some new initiatives and programs that are happening provincially, I’m going to have more that I can dedicate to highway safety and traffic enforcement,” said Pittman.
“Working with our towns, municipalities, and local people that live on the roads, could definitely help us direct better traffic enforcement; and I’ll have the resources to start putting out more in the future.”
A petition signed by 26 of the farm owners in the affected areas was submitted to council by Rumney, who also asked that the matter be lobbied at Simcoe County council. Walker assured the residents that he and Deputy Mayor Barry Norris would bring their concerns to that table in the future.
"We are looking at an evidence-based program through the town of Newmarket, who have asked us to participate with them," said Walker. "I’m not sure what stage that is, but that will involve a number of cameras on the roads. And through this evidence-based programming, it’s something we can enforce that way.”
The deputation by Joel Rumney, including slideshow presentation, can be found in the council agenda on the Tay Township website.
Tay council meets for committee of the whole meetings every second Wednesday of the month, and regular council meetings every fourth Wednesday of the month. Archives and livestreams of council meetings are available through the Tay Township YouTube channel.
