City hoping Hamilton Mountain drivers will heed request to slow down

It's a good idea in theory, but some Mountain residents fear the recently launched education campaign as part of the city's Vison Zero Action Plan will do little to stop drivers speeding through their neighbourhoods if there is no enforcement to go with it.

Enforcement has to happen," said Emily Kam, a resident in the McElroy-West 1st Street area of the Bonnington neighbourhood on the central-west Mountain.

She noted speeding has been a problem in the area for years, noting drivers frequently zip through the area to avoid the traffic light at Upper James Street and McElroy Road.

Many of the drivers, Kam believes, attend nearby Mohawk College.

It's male students in fancy cars," she said. They like to rip through the side streets."

Kam said the move to reduce residential speed limits to 40 km/h as part of the action plan will have a nominal" effect.

Ward 8 councillor John-Paul Danko noted a complete streets initiative will identify traffic safety engineering improvements across the central-west Mountain community later this year.

Last summer Danko's office distributed about 150 slow down signs to Bonnington and other Ward 8 neighbourhoods.

The community members try to enforce it; we shake our fingers at a speeding driver, but that's not going to do it," said Kam, who is particularly concerned about the safety of children walking to school.

Kam said they are hoping to see some speed cushions installed in the area, but they might have to wait until after the residential streets are resurfaced in a few years.

Her father-in-law and neighbour, Dave Kam, said there have been several near accidents" due to the speeding.

It's pretty bad," he said.

While he doesn't expect police to sit in the area," Dave said the education campaign won't have much effect without enforcement.

Over in the Centremount area, neighbourhood association chair Holly Chriss noted speeding is an ongoing problem on Brucedale and Queensdale avenues, around Queensdale Elementary School and along other local streets.

It's a mess," Chriss said. It seems like a problem that is difficult to solve."

Chriss said it's unlikely the addition of slow down signs will have any effect without enforcement.

I doubt it," she said.

Chriss said speed cushions, speed monitoring equipment and more four-way stop signs might help slow the speeders.

Hamilton's Vison Zero plan emphasizes safe roads and safe speeds with the current emphasis on education.

It's more of an educational reminder for folks that speeding is an issue, and they should make efforts to slow down," said Mike Field, the city's manager of transportation operations.

Field noted the education initiative that is running through March via traditional and social media and is not directly tied to any enforcement action.

There's not necessarily any potential activities happening around the city that go with that," he said.

The Hamilton police traffic services unit tells Hamilton Community News while they run a campaign each month directed at poor driving behaviours across the city, they do not have a scheduled campaign specific to any division, nor is it in their mandate to do that.

As part of the plan, the city is reducing the speed limit from 50 to 40 km/h on all residential streets by 2022 and to 30 km/h in school zones.

The speed limit will remain 50 km/h on major roads and streets.

Regardless of the measures the city implements, Field said it still comes down to the person behind the wheel.

At the end of the day we can put in as many measures as we want to, but if someone chooses to speed, they're going to speed and there's not a whole lot that we can do to prevent someone from making that choice," he said.