Clarke’s Beach promises to lobby for Otterbury Road resident

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Clarke’s Beach council’s hands are tied when it comes to the speed limit on Otterbury Road, a concern which was raised by a resident at the March 3 council meeting.

Clarke’s Beach resident Don Dawe attended the meeting and told council about frequent speeding on Otterbury Road. A residential road, Otterbury has a speed limit of 50 kph, but Dawe said many drivers exceed that, sometimes going as fast as 70kph. He suggested the speed limit be lowered to 30 km/h, rationalizing this would lead people to actually drive at 50.

Mayor Danielle Bussey explained to Dawe that council could not itself change the speed limit. “We service the road, with respect to garbage collection, (and) Newfoundland Power — we pay the streetlights and stuff like that — but we don’t control the road itself,” she said. “That’s the Department of Highways.”
Bussey said council could talk to the provincial Department of Transportation and lobby for a sign or reducing the speed limit.

“They may tell us it’s okay,” said Bussey. “I’m sure they probably wouldn’t mind. And if we’re going to put the sign up, as long as they’re okay with the size of the sign and where we put it, I’m sure they would probably say okay, but we would need permission first.”

Dawe suggested speed bumps could also be added.

Bussey said council by itself cannot place speed bumps on Otterbury.

“Yes, but you can ask,” said Dawe, noting that other areas have seen a decrease in speeding due to speed bumps.

“That’s the only hiccup we ever have with Otterbury is it’s not a Town-controlled road service,” said Bussey. “So we always have to seek permission no matter what we do, and sometimes we get it, sometimes we don’t, sometimes we never get an answer. But we will definitely look and lobby for it, see what we can do for you.”