THUNDER BAY – Radar speed signs will be installed along a section of Arundel Street while city staff have been tasked to come up with a list of potential locations for a second set of signs.
Thunder Bay city council on Monday night unanimously approved locating one set of permanent speed signs – one in each direction – along the Arundel Street Active Living Corridor but disagreement about the site for the second set resulted in the matter being referred back to administration.
In the report presented to council, administration had recommended the second set be located on Neebing Avenue in the area of the Westfort Playfield. Traffic studies estimated 9,500 vehicles on the roadway per day, with a northbound 85th percentile speed of 59 kilometres per hour and the southbound rate at 53 kilometres per hour, both above the posted 50 kilometre per hour speed limit.
Coun. Iain Angus supported the recommendation, citing the need for pedestrian safety for nearby residents to access the park.
“There is no safe way for children to cross that street from the high density accommodation at that area around Mary Street,” Angus said. “Putting these speed radar signs up will hopefully slow the traffic down enough to reduce the kind of safety situation that exists there.”
A second preferred location identified by administration was a stretch of Arthur Street between Parkdale Boulevard and Mapleward Road, where the 85th percentile speed was 90 kilometres per hour. The speed limit along that section of roadway, which has estimated daily traffic of 15,800 vehicles per day, ranges from 50 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour.
Coun. Joe Virdiramo, who represents the Westfort ward, advocated for Mary and Francis streets to be given attention.
“I’ve been on those streets. There is a lot of speeding,” Virdiramo said after the meeting.
But city engineering and operations director Kayla Dixon said the 85th percentile speed on those two streets was less than 10 kilometres over the limit, which along with the close proximity to the playfield area makes the Neebing Avenue site more suitable.
“We have looked at Mary and Francis as part of this report and determined that Neebing Avenue is a higher priority at this time due a lot to the fact there is no pedestrian facility along that section,” Dixon said.
“We do have a park where we have lots of people travelling to and we have a higher vehicle volume along that section. Basically, you have a larger number of vehicles that are speeding when you look at the percentages.”
Coun. Linda Rydholm suggested administration report back to council at a later date with more data. The referral was approved.
Virdiramo also lobbied for portable radar signs that could be moved to different locations throughout the city rather than permanently installed signs.
“I’ve been to different places where there are these types of signs and instinctively if I see the speed limit is 35 and your speed is 45, I immediately slow down,” Virdiramo said, adding police can't be constantly monitoring speeding throughout the entire city and portable signs have more versatility.
The capital budget included $40,000 for the purchase and installation of the two sets of signs. The actual cost was $31,000.
