First, 'community safety zones.' Next, photo radar?

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Drivers soon will face lower speed limits and higher fines in nearly two dozen parts of Oxford County as officials prepare to create new so-called community safety zones for the first time in two decades.

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First, 'community safety zones.' Next, photo radar? Back to video

County politicians last week approved implementing 20 community safety zones within Oxford by the end of the year.

The zones, identified by signage, are sections of the road where public safety is of particular concern and where higher vehicle speeds and collision patterns have been identified. That includes areas along the county’s road grid near schools, day-care centres, parks, hospitals and seniors’ residences with posted speeds of 70 kilometres an hour or less, a county staff report states.

Motorists in these zones can receive up to double the fine for speeding, transportation manager Frank Gross said.

“It allows police to double the fines, and then that acts as a deterrent for drivers to obey the speed limit through those areas,” he said.

Introducing community safety zones is one way to promote active and safer transportation, said Marcus Ryan, the county’s warden.

“We should be encouraging active transportation, people getting around in their villages without a vehicle,” he said.

“But without these community safety zones to have reduced speed or a flashing sign with lights to indicate that there’s a reason for a driver to pay attention ahead, our residents tell us that they don’t feel safe doing that.”

Implementing the zones is estimated to cost between $25,000 and $30,000, with the county pulling from approved funding in its business plan and budget, the staff report says.

Staff initially identified 21 areas that met the criteria for community safety zones, but politicians deferred their decision on the proposed zone on Tillson Avenue in Tillsonburg until after the town completes its master transportation plan.

Seven other locations also were considered but did not meet the second set of criteria due to unavailable information. Gross said staff plan to collect more data on those areas before approval.

The last time safety zones were introduced in areas located on the county road network was in 2000, when politicians passed a bylaw to designate one zone in Sweaburg and one in Kintore for a one-year trial. While the signage remains in place, no data was collected from that period, staff noted in their report.

Under provincial law, the areas designated as community safety zones across the county would be eligible for installing automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras, otherwise known as photo radar.

“This is a step that will allow us to implement other traffic-calming measures. One of them, potentially, would be ASE, but the county hasn’t decided yet whether it will do that or not,” Ryan said.

Council is set to vote on the new bylaw for the zones on Feb. 22.

And in a year, Ryan said, politicians will assess how effective the safety zones are for vehicle traffic and pedestrian safety.

“All of these measures are measured a year after they’re implemented to see how effective they are and then further steps are taken if necessary.”

cleon@postmedia.com

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