Holyrood honing list of speed bump sites
By Craig Westcott
Holyrood council’s public safety committee is working on a list of locations for speed bumps.
“There’s been a lot of talk over the past few days with regards to speeding on town roads,” said committee chairman and councillor Bruce King. “So, we’re in the process of putting those speed bumps out. If you feel as a resident that your street needs to be looked at in terms of people speeding back and forth, then by all means bring it forward to council, bring it forward to the Town, and we will see what we can do.”
King cautioned there is a limited number of speedbumps to go around.
“What we will do is Town staff will look at it and prioritize it in a list of which streets are the most vulnerable,” he said. “The other thing is, if you see people speeding, pick up the phone and call the RCMP. And if you can get their licence plate number, or their description, that’s even better.”
King said the committee also had a discussion last month about ATVs and dirt bikes.
“There’s been a lot of talk lately about kids speeding on dirt bikes and stuff like that,” he said. “One complaint was brought to our CAO (chief administrative officer) and that’s being addressed. Concerns should be put in writing and forwarded to the Town and then the Town will go forward it to the RCMP and hopefully the RCMP will be able to do something about it… The problem is, if an RCMP officer is in a car and you’re on a dirt bike or an ATV, there is very little that the RCMP officer can do, for obvious reasons. Most of the time, the RCMP, because of safety concerns, will not pursue a person.”
Despite the talk about ATVs, said King, he personally has never encountered a problem ATV on the trails in Holyrood in the 23 years he has lived there.
To that, fellow committee member and councillor, Mabel Tilley, added that increased ATV use has actually been a boon to Holyrood.
“I don’t have 20 years here in the community walking the track, but pretty much everyday I’m down on the track,” said Tilley. “And I did notice as the number of people has increased with the amount of ATVs, from what I’ve seen it’s been a wonderful experience. The Station Diner is booming with ATVs, the tourists have been there on the beach with their picnics. ATVing is becoming a huge tourist attraction throughout the province, and Holyrood, with our beach and our whale making star visits every now and then, has brought a big cluster of people around lately. I hope we’re not having one bad apple spoiling a bunch, but unfortunately there’s always the one person who is not obeying the rules and regulations, but 99.9 per cent that I’ve seen have been families out for a drive, out for a picnic, out to pass away the afternoon.”