THUNDER BAY – Current River’s city councillor wants to explore ways of slowing down motorists that are cruising through the Arundel Street Active Living Corridor.
Coun. Andrew Foulds intends to ask administration to prepare a report outlining options to calm traffic on Arundel Street when city council meets for the first time in four weeks on Monday.
Foulds’ motion will come in the wake of a July 18 update on traffic in the city’s Active Living Corridors.
That report showed 85 per cent of motorists were recorded travelling along the 50-kilometre-per-hour stretch past Bluffs Road at 60 kilometres per hour, the fastest among the six surveyed locations.
It also showed vehicle traffic volume at the nearby Black Bay Bridge over the Current River increased 29 per cent over 2012 figures.
“The volume of car traffic is increasing and that is what it is, but the speeds are also significantly in excess of the speed limit,” Foulds said.
“I do have a number of seniors complexes and apartments. A lot of those folks need to cross the street and the people at Boulevard Lake need to cross the street.”
Foulds won’t request a decreased speed limit but he does want to ensure the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, beyond the steps taken in 2015 to install 90 bollards along 1.5 kilometres of the corridor.
“One thing that has actually worked here in Thunder Bay is those solar-powered speed signs,” he said.
“Often, people don’t realize they’re going quite that fast and if they’re a little bit better informed, that might be one tool.”
