By Adam Ophus

Excessive speeds

County reviewing whether to reduce speeds on River Road

Jun 10, 2020 | 1:45 PM

A email request was put into Clearwater County Council by the owners of the Riverview Campground asking that part of or all of Range Road 7-3A (River Road) have its speed reduced from 80 km/hr down to 50 km/hr.

The campground is located at the north end of the gravel road just off Highway 11 where no speed sign is posted notifying drivers of the roads speed limit.

County administration noted that it is fairly well known that most gravel roads have an 80 km/hr speed limit and that I speed sign is posted on the south end due to its proximity to the rodeo grounds.

The email sent to council states that they have seen “vehicles speed uncontrollably” on the road coming off of highway 11.

Councillor Theresa Laing commented that when she viewed the area and spoke to some of the residents that live there, they agreed that they had seen excessive speeds.

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Administration mentioned that the road is patrolled by law enforcement and stated that by their knowledge haven’t seen large amounts of speeding or accidents.

They also worry that residents may see the move as a “cash grab” and that a speed change without increased enforcement won’t be enough.

Laing brought to councils attention that Riverview campground has 130 sites with families and children, some sites even housing people year round.

With those numbers, plus other residents in the area, the population rivals other hamlets in the County that have brought up similar issues in the past and have had the speed limit changed.

The cost to put up the change in speed would be around $65 per sign and the cost of an employee to put it up, totaling around $120 for each additional sign that would be required.

County Council agreed to follow the current bylaw that would allow the Chief Administrative Officer to make the decision whether or not to change the speed limit on Range Road 7-3A.

Administration will review and investigate the road in order to discover it needs a future speed change.