A Calming Effect
Posted on August 5, 2008, by Harvey Kirkpatrick
Filed Under General News
Whether you drive an automobile, bike, use public transportation, walk or use any combination of the available modes of transportation, you have probably noticed someone trying to break a land speed record in a residential area near you. Did you simply miss an increased speed limit sign, or was the kid in the tricked out Sunfire simply trying to defy the laws of physics. Speeders are abound in Kingston, and it would be hypocritical for me to put myself on the other side of this problem, but that said I am not a drag racer, nor do I speed in quieter residential areas. Even so, there are many who do, so much so that the City of Kingston has decided to do something about it. From speed humps to traffic circles, we could be in for a slower commute.
The city has proposed that they may create speed reducing barriers in 6 problem areas to “calm” the flow of traffic, and in essence, make the roads safer for all who use them. Based on public input, and traffic studies, streets identified for some form of special treatment include:
- Hudson Drive (from Mona Drive to Bayridge Drive),
- Old Colony Road (from Lancaster Drive to Taylor Kidd Boulevard),
- Regent Street (from Princess Street to Brock Street),
- Rideau Street (in front of Rideaucrest Towers),
- Queen Mary Road, and
- Woodbine Road (from Bayridge Drive to Collins Bay Road).
Depending on the results of a public consultation tomorrow night, any one of these identified areas could receive a raised crosswalk, raised intersection, rumble strip, sidewalk extension, textured crosswalk or massive speed hump. The word on the street (pun intended) is that residents near the affected areas are not crazy about the implementation of these measures. In that respect, although they do not like the speeding cars, it seems as though they are worried that speed bumps and the like will cause congestion, decreased property values, and even increase smog.
In addition to these downsides, the city has acknowledged that speeders would simply divert to use other streets, and that the measures could delay emergency services, increase traffic noise and require additional tax dollars to build and maintain. To combat this, they are also considering an all-way stop or traffic circle as neither one has as many negative ramifications as the above mentioned calming solutions. All things considered, I do not think that we want our speedy side streets turning into congested traffic circles. Perhaps we should simply forgo any of these measures and hire a few more police officers to permanently hand out tickets for traffic violations.
Does Kingston really have a traffic problem that requires calming? We really want to know what you think about this one. If you want to take your views to the highest podium in the land, be sure to attend the public consultation tomorrow night at 5pm in the Rona Room at the Invista Centre.
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Friends & Supporters
The best thing to do in this town would be to add a lane on each side of the main streets but obviously this isn’t an option so I say go with the speed bumps and rumble strips! They do it in Toronto on the more residential streets so speeders can stick to the main roads, away from playing children and elderly people crossing the street. Not to say that speeding is OK, but at least we can keep it out of the residential neighbourhoods. Rideau is ridiculous. Did you know the limit there is 40? I don’t think many people realize that. I also think 4 way stops are something Kingston does not use enough. Many of our streets are very difficult to cross in a car due to parked vehicles blocking your view. Getting on to streets like Rideau, Wellington or Bagot can be a bit of a game of Frogger. Sure, stop signs may slow our commute a bit but come on, it’s Kingston. Getting across town takes about 20-30 minutes tops, surely we can make this work.