The issue of lowering some speed limits in St. Davids was brought forth on Aug. 20 when Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa sat down at a public Q&A hosted by the St. Davids Ratepayers Association for a discussion on matters facing the bedroom community.

The reasoning behind the request stems from higher limits that remain in town bylaws for roads that were previously rural but are now classified residential because of increased development in the area.

“Particularly, I know recently, while looking into another issue in town, we found that Tanbark (Road) has still been listed in the town bylaws as 80 kilometres per hour,” said association board member Mike Pearsall during the Aug. 20 meeting.

Pearsall noted that other municipalities in Niagara, such as Lincoln, have already taken this measure to reduce speeds in now-developed areas.

“The ratepayers association of St. Davids is saying that within the residential areas of St. Davids we would like the town to consider dropping the speed limit to 40 kilometres per hour,” he said. 

This should happen “before we start seeing a number of collisions and injuries as a result,” he said, adding that the association is currently working on a diagram to show all areas of St. Davids that would apply.

Zalepa responded by sharing that road safety is one of council’s priorities and it has already asked town staff to conduct a speed management review of all areas in the greater Niagara-on-the-Lake community.

“My understanding is that this fall the staff are going to come back with a more holistic look at how we can look at speed limits in general across different parts of the town,” he said. 

“Council is supportive of it and direction is happening.”

A public engagement process will take place this fall, he added.

“That will be a good chance to hear what you have to say,” he said directly to those in attendance. 

“People have other opinions as well. Council will have a chance to take it all in and make any decisions that come from that.”

Other measures have been taken to combat speeding in St. Davids.

This spring, a speed camera was installed on York Road near St. Davids Public School as part of the Niagara Region’s Vision Zero road safety strategy, which involves adding and moving speed cameras to different locations throughout Niagara.

wright@niagaranow.com