Douro Street in Stratford. Beacon Herald file photo
To address concerns over pedestrian safety on Douro Street and other arterial roads in Stratford, the infrastructure, transportation and safety subcommittee asked staff at Wednesday’s meeting to look into what it would take and whether it would be worth it to reduce the citywide speed limit from 50 km/h to 40.Subcommittee chair Coun. Kathy Vassilakos made the recommendation after director of infrastructure and development services Ed Dujlovic presented a report addressing speeding concerns on Douro Street, between Waterloo Street to Romeo Street South, brought to the subcommittee’s attention by Douro Street residents in October.With 46 accidents recorded between 2014 and 2018 along that stretch of Douro — 26 of which occurred at the Waterloo and Romeo Street intersections — subcommittee members seemed to agree that speeding was an issue on that section of road, like it is on arterial roads throughout the city.Though the residents who brought the concerns forward had previously proposed installing additional stop signs and reducing the speed limit on the road to 40 km/h, Dujlovic said those measures alone would do little to curb the average speed of drivers on Douro. Instead, the director of infrastructure proposed placing the city’s new portable, electronic speed sign — purchased by council following safety concerns at the Huron Street and Huntingdon Avenue school crossing earlier this month — on Douro Street temporarily to make drivers more aware of how fast they’re travelling.While the subcommittee ultimately approved the staff recommendation, Vassilakos went one step further, asking staff to look into reducing the default speed limit, not only to address the speeding concerns brought forward by residents of Douro Street, but also to address those of residents living on other arterial roads.“There are a number of communities in Canada that have started to look at 40 km/h as a blanket (speed limit)… The City of Edmonton found that while it reduced speeds, it wasn’t (increasing) the actual travel time that much. And rather than putting in stop signs that would make (traffic) stop and start, stop and start, which increases things like air pollution and people speeding between stops, going to a 40 (km/h speed limit) sort of equalized out the travel, so it didn’t interrupt that traffic flow,” Vassilakos said.According to Dujlovic, the city receives several complaints of chronic speeding on specific roads from residents every year. By reducing the city’s default speed limit, Vassilakos said the city could address all of these concerns at once instead of addressing each complaint as they arise.But while staff look into reducing the citywide speed limit and figure out where to put the city’s new, portable speed sign so it will have the most impact on drivers, Douro Street residents Penny Dufour and Michael Lacoursiere were still concerned the subcommittee recommendations didn’t include any immediate actions to improve pedestrian safety on their street.“If you go to the local convenience store, or you’re getting off at the bus stop there, there’s no safe place for you to cross,” Dufour said. “I don’t know how you, as a city, can expect our children, and our elderly, and just regular people to be able to cross the street safely. During the day, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much traffic, but certainly during rush hour first thing in the morning and last thing at night… this is when we’re seeing a lot of (traffic). So for us who live on the street, it appears to be very dangerous.”In response to their concerns, Dujlovic informed the subcommittee that staff will be bringing to its March 27 meeting a report revolving around a new type of pedestrian-activated crossing that municipalities can use to improve pedestrian safety in high traffic areas.Once that report is brought forward, staff will be able to discuss with subcommittee members whether such a crossing is needed on that section of Douro Street.gsimmons@postmedia.com