Speed kills. It also seems to make some Parksville city councillors rather grumpy.
A debate Monday night about traffic-calming measures for Chesnut Street turned into a free-for-all vent of frustrations some councillors have with speeders on Parksville streets, and a perceived lack of enforcement by the RCMP.
“Why are we not generating (speeding-ticket) revenue from all these lead-footed drivers?” said Coun. Kirk Oates. “Nothing gets reaction like picking through your wallet.”
Coun. Kim Burden directly asked for more enforcement by the RCMP.
“We pay $2.8 million a year (to the RCMP) — why can’t they park a car on Chesnut Street?” he said.
Other than geese, the issue Mayor Marc Lefebvre seems to have been most passionate about in recent years has been the driving habits of people on the main drag through Parksville, Highway 19A.
“I travel 19A every day; it’s a speedway,” said the mayor. “People are going 60-70-80 kilometres an hour.” The speed limit on 19A through Parksville is 50 km/h.
Staff explained the city has a process for traffic calming, one worked out with the RCMP that has certain steps in a certain order. Staff said they have data now for Chesnut Street and can take the next step, which may include a reduction in the speed limit to 40 km-h. Staff indicated data shows people are regularly travelling that road more than 10 km/h over the 50 km/h limit.
Lefebvre said he’s discussed the issue of speeding on city streets with the RCMP a number of times. “My experience has been it’s a lack of (RCMP) resources,” said Lefebvre.
Coun. Mary Beil suggested the city could suggest a better direction for those resources.
“In terms of resources, we help set priorities (with the RCMP),” she said. “If we take care of some of the smaller things, the bigger problems take care of themselves.”
That didn’t go far enough for Burden.
“I’d just like to stop being nice,” he said. “I want to see some enforcement. I live on Hirst — it’s a speedway.”
In the end, council passed the staff recommendation to enter Chestnut Street into a three-stage process that will start with public education, possibly followed by signage and enforcement and then possibly the implementation of what’s called physical measures like speed bumps. The motion passed 6-1, with Burden opposed.
Council also passed a motion to re-introduce a former practice that had a council liaison appointed to meet with the RCMP more regularly than what’s happened in the past few years.
