After speaking to numerous homeowners in the area, several members of Town of Osoyoos council said they’re convinced lowering the speed limit along Lakeshore Drive isn’t wanted or necessary.
Despite being one of the busiest roadways in the town during peak tourist season, not one resident he talked to has had a single complaint about speeding along Lakeshore Drive and a proposal by council to lower the speed limit from 50 to 30 km/h during peak tourist season was strongly opposed by residents who live on that street, said Coun. C.J. Rhodes.
“I talked to quite a few people … and I haven’t heard of one incident under any circumstances,” said Rhodes, who argued against a motion to lower the speed limit along Lakeshore Drive during Tuesday’s regular meeting of town council.
With support from Mayor Stu Wells and Coun. Mike Plante, the motion to reduce the speed limit was defeated.
However, council did vote unanimously in favour of “several crosswalk improvement” projects that will increase signage along stretches of Lakeshore Drive, particularly near busy campgrounds and hotels on that route.
Plante said he also talked to numerous people about this issue and became convinced lowering the speed limit would not be the right move.
“I also use that road all the time and while signage can be improved, I just don’t think it’s necessary to reduce the speed limit,” said Plante.
Wells said this issue has received a lot of attention from homeowners and business owners along Lakeshore Drive and throughout the town and he’s also convinced that lowering the speed limit would not be the appropriate move.
“I really don’t think it makes good sense for the people who live down there,” said Wells. “I know this is a tough decision, especially if we have an incident down there … but we could lower the speed limit to 30 and still have an incident.”
The biggest reason he wasn’t in favour of lowering the speed limit is because none of the property owners he talked to suggested that speeding was a problem along Lakeshore Drive, said Wells.
When the street is full of vehicles and pedestrians during the peak tourist season, drivers are going to automatically slow down and increasing crosswalk signage should be more than sufficient to ensure the road remains safe and drivers can proceed at a reasonable speed, he said.
Wells said he would also like town staff to look at the possibility of using intermittent speed bumps along the busiest sections of Lakeshore Drive as another way to slow down traffic.
Coun. Sue McKortoff, who presented the original motion to lower the speed limit, said two traffic safety reports and a recent report from the RCMP indicated lowering the speed limit along Lakeshore Drive would improve safety and that’s why she favoured the reduction during peak tourist season.
One of those reports were from the town’s Traffic Advisory Committee.
About a month ago, Osoyoos RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Kevin Schur addressed council and said police would be in favour of lowering the speed limit during peak tourist season because that road is so busy with vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Because Lakeshore Drive is so busy during the tourist season, many people are already forced to drive slowly and lowering the speed limit seems logical to her between June and September, said McKortoff.
“We’re looking at improving safety on that stretch … and I think it makes perfect sense to reduce the speed limit down there,” she said.
Coun. Michael Ryan agreed with McKortoff saying it’s better to err on the side of safety, especially when Lakeshore Drive is so busy with vehicular and pedestrian traffic between June and September.
If lowering the speed limit would improve safety for children and visitors during peak tourist season, it’s his opinion council should be in favour even if it does upset some of the people who live year-round on Lakeshore Drive,he said.
One lady who lives on Lakeshore Drive gave councillors who voted against lowering the speed limit a big thumbs-up following their decision.
