Community safety and well-being is one of the prime concerns of the East Ferris municipal council, and some new initiatives are underway to help residents remain alive and well. Council is considering reducing speed limits on certain roads and will be offering free reflective vests to improve pedestrian safety.
The East Ferris Police Services Board felt giving away the vests would be fitting with the community’s overall Community and Safety and Well-Being Plan. While preparing that municipal plan, many residents offered feedback to council, and many of those “expressed concerns about walking along community roads,” explained Mayor Pauline Rochefort.
Reducing vehicle speed along those roads and making pedestrians more visible are two ways to address those concerns. With days getting shorter, the municipality is encouraging people to wear reflective clothing along the roads as they enjoy an after-dinner stroll with Fido.
“To set the tone,” Mayor Rochefort said, the municipality has ordered 50 vests, which they are giving out to the first 50 people who ask for one at the Municipal Office. Ideally, “it will encourage citizens to wear colourful or reflective clothing” while roadside.
Mayor Rochefort is also encouraging people to put away their Slow Down signs the municipality gave out earlier this year. With snow around the corner, she doesn’t want to see those damaged by a plow, and she would like to see them return to front yards in the spring.
About 200 of those signs were distributed, “and they were very effective,” Mayor Rochefort said. “It’s one of the small things a municipality can do” to improve safety, she added.
See: You might get the message to slow down soon, East Ferris
As for the speed limit reductions, this issue was raised during council’s September 27th meeting. Mayor Rochefort noted the resolution passed by council “is a further example of the efforts underway in support of safety for all users of East Ferris roads.”
The municipality is sending letters to all homeowners lined along the roads in question, so residents will be able to add their two cents. Here are the changes the municipality is proposing:
Guillemette Road – from 50 km/h to 40 km/h
Lavigne Road – from 60 km/h to 50 km/h
MacPherson Drive – from 60 km/h to 50 km/h
Nosbonsing Park Road – from 60 km/h to 50 km/h
South Shore Road between Marina Road and the turnout at Lot 9 – from 60 km/h to 50 km/h
Quae Quae Road – from 70 km/h to 60 km/h
Waukegan Road – from 60 km/h to 50 km/h - (option 40 km/h)
Mayor Rochefort explained that “further public consultation will be conducted via the Municipality’s social media” as well, with a final recommendation expected to reach council in November. “We want to make sure the citizens are in support of it” before council makes a decision, she said, with the goal of “safer roads for all residents”—drivers and walkers alike.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.