GUELPH/ERAMOSA – Two of the township's speedier roads have been selected for a new speed hump pilot project designed to slow down traffic.
Approved at a Guelph/Eramosa council meeting Monday afternoon, Conservation Road between Highway 6 and Wellington Road 38 and MacLennan Street near Harris Mill Public School have been selected as the ideal candidates for the township's speed hump pilot project.
Staff said both roads were selected based on their histories with speed and "near misses."
Pending final costs, both roads are recommended to have three speed humps.
“I think these two are kinda good because you have a quasi-rural road which is…a pass through which is people just zipping from Fergus over to Guelph and then you’ve got MacLennan which is a school route in the middle of an urban area so it’s a good balance," said Mayor Chris White, during the meeting.
While supportive of the two roads selected, Coun. Corey Woods asked staff not to forget about Cross Creek Boulevard, which was previously investigated for the pilot due to ongoing speeding issues.
According to staff, Cross Creek Boulevard wasn't selected for the pilot despite it becoming a rougher road because staff didn't want to spend a chunk of money on one location just to eventually rip it out and redo it.
As Cross Creek Boulevard is "starting to show its age" in terms of paving conditions, staff said they'll have a "hard look" at resurfacing and draining improvements to help with driveability next year.
Public Works is currently collecting data on both roads to confirm pre-hump conditions and traffic counters will be reinstalled post-pilot to observe results.
The pilot's results will be used to create guidelines for future speed hump implantation during budget time.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
