After years battling a speeding problem in Kemptville, a local man is starting to worry that he is losing the fight. He preferred to remain anonymous, but spoke at length regarding his concerns of people speeding in the area of Concession, Prescott, and Clothier Streets.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” the man said. “I was told they were going to put a photo radar on Concession, but nothing has been done. I’m sick and tired of it.” He has spotted cars frequently travelling at speeds in the 60-70 km/h range, yet the speed limit throughout the town of Kemptville is just 40 km/h. Calls to the police have not spurred any changes.
The issue of speeding is certainly not isolated to North Grenville, and is one that an increasing number of residents seem to be noticing. However, signage and infrastructure don’t seem to be doing the trick when it comes to slowing drivers down, and a stronger police presence may be the only solution. The concerned resident who spoke to the Times has noticed that one of the peak times for speeding appears to be when local schools let out for lunch, suggesting that students or perhaps even school staff may be some of the worst culprits. The irony is clear given that the schools in the area were one significant driving force behind the “community safety zone” designation for the area.
For the concerned resident, the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back came about a month ago when he was rear-ended by a speeding vehicle. Now, he is concerned that some of the streets in Kemptville that carry traffic from County Road 43 into downtown are going to become even more congested with speeding vehicles when the widening of County Road 43 begins to cause slowdowns that will encourage motorists to use alternative routes.
One suggestion that the resident has put forward is the installation of speed humps on certain downtown local streets that have the biggest speeding problems. He has been told that this is not feasible because speed humps cause issues for emergency vehicles and snowplows, though to him, this does not make sense since such speed controlling measures exist in high numbers in Ottawa. “It’s an excuse,” he said. Even speed limit signs in the middle of the road – such as those installed on Pinehill Road – don’t seem to make a difference because ill-meaning motorists simply run them over as a joke.
Other North Grenville locals have raised concerns about speeding recently as well, including one woman from Pelton’s Corners who simply wanted the speed limit in her hamlet reduced to match the limits of other hamlets along County Road 22 in the hopes that drivers would at least speed less. In that case, it appears that nothing has been done months later.
The concerned resident’s activism on the issue of speeding goes back about a decade. He was a driving force behind such safety measures as sidewalks and a community safety zone designation for Concession Street. Now with little progress being made, he is hoping that more people will write to their representatives in Council to express their concerns in the hopes that something will be done. “That’s the way to do it,” he said. “Email the Council and let them know how many people are fed up with it.”