Councillor takes aim at speeders
Frustrated with speed demons racing about in his ward,
Stittsville-Kanata West Coun. Shad Qadri is taking the matter into his
own hands.
Picture it -- Shad Qadri -- speed-buster.
Qadri has come up with a pro-active approach to
dealing with a constant problem found throughout the city, always
ranking high among residents' worries.
He said concern over speeders -- both those who live
in his community and those coming from outside the area -- has the
first-time councillor hitting the streets, speed gun in hand.
Like others in the community, he's worried about the
safety of his residents, and believes he's hit upon an idea that might
help.
After talking to the city's traffic department, Qadri
learned the city has two portable signs that display motorists' speed --
a machine somewhat smaller than the ones drivers may be more familiar
with.
Problem is, one of them is missing a speed gun.
Qadri has agreed to purchase the gun with funds from
his office and donate it back to the city -- as long as his residents
have use of the speed-buster for the summer months.
His goal isn't to play a role in having the speeders
arrested.
"I'm not talking about taking the drivers to police,
nothing like that," the sense-talking councillor said yesterday. "I'm
hoping maybe when they see me on the side of the street, they'll slow
down."
No doubt they will.
But the benefits could be far more long-term. And
that's his biggest goal.
Qadri said speed demons are a serious concern among
his residents -- as they are most everywhere else in the city.
"We're a young community, there are lots of children
living here," he said.
"We've got one street, Abbott St., where we've got two
speed limits, one at 40 km/h and another at 50 km/h. It's 40 km/h in
front of the high school, and 50 km/h at the elementary school. It
doesn't make sense," he said.
And before Qadri starts asking staff to change the
speed limits, or before he requests certain traffic lights or stop
signs, the rookie councillor wants to gather his own information --
information that might be able to be used to sway staff.
Just as likely, the information will also help his own
community get a more realistic understanding of where the real problem
areas are.
"There are about 30 or 40 different locations that
have been identified as problem areas. We'll go out in the summer, on a
Saturday or a Sunday, and we'll monitor the speeding," he said.
Mike Flainek, the director of traffic for the city,
said speeding is a perennial issue from one end of the city to the
other. And the speed monitors act as an effective educational tool.
"It's often your neighbour, it's your soccer mom going
75 km/h in a 40 km/h zone," he said.
He said there's a set criteria used to determine what
speed limits should be in the city, where stop signs should go, based on
things like whether a street is in a residential area, whether there are
sidewalks, whether there are schools nearby.
Flainek said the machines that post drivers' speed are
popular among city councillors anxious to use them in their wards as an
educational tool for both drivers and the community.
"We've got requests for them right up until July and
August," he said.
"Maybe they're not going as fast as you actually think
they're going. So knowing that information is important. And depending
on the severity, we might end up bringing in police officers."
Of course, Qadri has helped his ward jump the line by
offering to buy the gun.
He won't be the only one using it, of course. He'll
also be lending it out to the community associations to do their own
research in the ward.
It's estimated the radar gun will cost in the
neighbourhood of between $1,300 and $1,700.
"The bottom line is to ensure my community is
absolutely safe," he said. |
