The Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) council wants to take a closer look at the issues along Highway 26, and they're hoping the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will help foot the bill.
“We've had a lot of input on this issue,” said the TBM Mayor Alar Soever. “All of this [input] is being considered in our deliberations and I'm happy that we can augment that with a study to see what the longer-term solution to this might be."
In mid-June, the MTO reduced the posted speed limit on Highway 26 from Delphi Lane to Grey Road 21 from 80 km/h to 50 km/h, at the request of TBM council.
The speed reduction is a "temporary, emergency measure" and is expected to return to 80 km/hour on Oct. 13.
Since the change was implemented, TBM council asked the Transportation Committee to conduct an independent assessment of the Highway 26 speed reduction and any related impacts.
“We did get a much longer section of the highway reduced than what we requested and certainly that's something to bring up,” Soever said. “The slower speed limit has also identified some other problem areas.”
A staff report detailing the independent assessment is expected to be brought back to council before Oct. 13.
The report will be used to inform discussions with the MTO on what permanent changes could be implemented.
“I've heard loud and clear that the reduced speed section is too long and somewhat frustrating to people, which has led to some incidents of road rage,” Soever added.
At a council meeting held earlier today, the Transportation Committee requested $10,000 from the TBM Master Transportation Plan budget for the speed reduction independent assessment.
At the same time, the committee asked Soever to pen a request the MTO to match the same amount of funding.
Rob Sampson, town councillor and chair of the Transportation Committee said he and Soever already began the conversation with the minister at last week’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference.
“When we did our AMO delegations, we suggested that the ministry might want to participate in this study. So, this letter would be a follow up to that,” Sampson said.
Soever confirmed the request to MTO would be sent as soon as possible.
