Leon Dutfield and his neighbours on Grey Road 18 between Concessions 8 and 10 in Meaford want drivers to slow down.
Dutfield came before council on Monday night in an effort to enlist support of the municipality as he works toward lobbying the County to reduce the speed limit on a 2.7 kilometre stretch of road that is home to 43 families totalling 110 residents.
Though the Municipality of Meaford can't change the speed limit, Dutfield was advised by Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch that he would be wise to have the support of council before going to the County.
The current speed limit on the section of road in question is 80 kilometres per hour, though Dutfield noted that there are no speed limit signs posted on the 2.7 kilometres in question. Armed with a long paper scroll of data that he had personally recorded, he explained that after contacting the OPP detachment in Chatsworth, a monitor was placed at the end of his driveway for three weeks at the end of May.
During those three weeks Dutfield recorded the speeds of passing vehicles, and what he found was staggering.
Vehicles were passing his residential stretch of Grey Road 18 at alarming speeds. The highest speed he recorded was 127 kilometres per hour, and in summarizing the mountain of data he collected, Dutfield said that in any 12 hour day time period an average of 1,100 vehicles drive past those 43 homes, and of those more than 120 of them, or ten every hour, are travelling at a speed in excess of 100 kilometres per hour.
“Residents are afraid to use the road for walking or biking,” Dutfield told members of council.
He also said that there is concern about this excessive speed and the safety of children who take school buses that pick up and drop off children during the school year.
“We do not need a tragedy,” cautioned Dutfield.
Members of council were receptive to the presentation and offered some suggestions including requesting increased police presence on the road, though Dutfield indicated that this request has been made, and he has been told that the OPP does not have enough manpower to increase patrol on the road, especially given that similar issues exist on many rural roads in the area.
The next step for Dutfield and his neighbours will be a visit to Grey County Council to lobby for a reduction of the 80 kilometre speed limit.
