CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A city councillor is asking for a review on speeding bylaws in school zones, including the possibility of increasing the number of hours those areas are subject to a 30 km/h speed limit.
Coun. Mitch Tweel raised concerns during council’s last meeting on the amount of speeding in school zones, pointing to Palmers Lane in particular.
Tweel said the concern has been raised by residents, who would like to see a speed bump moved further up the street, which is on a hill, to reduce the speeds.
However, he later pointed to other school streets as well and said there should be an assessment.
“They really put the pedal to metal…They’re running stop signs and speeding on these particular streets. (It’s dangerous) especially when it comes to bus traffic and parents picking children up,” said Tweel.
Tweel also suggested to The Guardian that he would like to see school zones remain at a 30 km/h speed limit until later in the evening. Currently, those restricted speed limits run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on school days.
However, Tweel said many city schools and community groups run programming in the buildings at night.
“The deficiency (is) that there are always events taking place at these schools, whether during the day or evening,” he said. “We’ve got to come up with a plan to not only look at speeding during the day but also speeding during the evenings.”
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Major surgery needed for city streets, says councillor
Speeding isn’t the only issue that should be reviewed when it comes to city streets, says Charlottetown Coun. Mitch Tweel.
Tweel says some streets are in the worst shape he’s ever seen them, pointing out Queen Street as a major problem area.
“Traffic is being forced to drive into oncoming traffic because of the state of the street,” said Tweel, referencing the many potholes that have been left by this winter’s fluctuating weather. “It’s atrocious and it’s dangerous.”
Tweel said he would like the city to reach out to other jurisdictions to see what type of foundation base is being used in the roads as well as any new technology the city could use going forward.
“We need to be innovative and creative and see what we can do below grade-level and how far down we need to go,” he said. “It’s going to cost money, but the traditional way of doing things is simply not working, there’s a lot of frustration.”
