Like the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
After talking to numerous residents with residences on Lakeshore Drive over the past six or seven weeks, since discussion first started around Town of Osoyoos council chambers about lowering the speed limit, Mayor Stu Wells and councillors Mike Plante and C.J. Rhodes said they became convinced this action wasn’t wanted or necessary.
While no one can argue that Lakeshore Drive is incredibly busy and hectic during the peak tourist season, not one of the property owners these municipal leaders talked to had any complaints about speeding or irresponsible driving behaviour along this roadway.
It’s a guarantee that if there were serious problems with speeding drivers, members of council would have heard about it, but that simply wasn’t the case.
Even though it was a very difficult decision and some will argue the majority of councillors made the wrong decision, we applaud them for listening to the constituents who would have been most affected by a reduction in the speed limit.
Rather than reduce the speed limit, council has formally made a request to town staff to improve crosswalk areas along the full length of Lakeshore Drive and even look at the idea of installing speed bumps on the roadway to slow down traffic in particularly busy areas.
Councillors Sue McKortoff and Michael Ryan also deserve credit for sticking to their guns and insisting lowering the speed limit would improve safety during the peak tourist season.
They were passionate in their support for lowering the speed limit and refused to waver in that belief, despite opposition from fellow councillors.
At the end of the day, the majority must rule in any democracy and council has voted to defeat a motion to reduce the speed limit along Lakeshore Drive.
We applaud all members of council for taking the time to seriously consider, think about and debate this issue over the past two months.
It became clear the people who live on this street don’t think speeding is an issue and there was no need to lower the speed limit, even during the busy tourist season.
Council has taken the additional step of improving crosswalk areas and this should dramatically improve whatever safety concerns do exist along Lakeshore Drive.
