CBN council discusses speeding concerns
By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Olivia Bradbury
Carbonear deputy mayor Fred Earle brought concerns about speeding to the most recent meeting of the Joint Council of Conception Bay North (JCCBN).
“We’re still concerned about the amount of speeding in our community,” said Earle at the May 28th meeting. “I guess that is something that every community’s got an issue with.”
Geoff Seymour, Mayor of Bay Roberts and Chair of JCCBN, agreed that speeding is an issue in all towns, including those on the joint council. “The RCMP constantly tell us, ‘Tell people to call, call, call,’ because when you see a big volume of calls from a specific area, then it gets flagged and they usually set up some type of operation,” said Seymour.
Earle asked if joint council could find out if towns are allowed to put up speed cameras, like those found on the Veterans Memorial Highway, within their own boundaries. Bay Roberts councillor Dean Franey said he believed the cameras on the highway were placed as part of a program by the provincial government. This was confirmed by Andrew Walsh, political liaison for Harbour Main MHA Helen Conway-Ottenheimer.
“It’s a provincial program from the Department of Government Services,” said Walsh. “I don’t know what the expansion plans are. You’d have to talk to Government Services.”
Walsh went on to say that Government Services recommends municipal leaders gather any data they can about speeding in their communities. Afterwards, they can write a letter to Minister of Government Services Mike Goosney requesting to have a camera installed in an area of concern.