Cutting Edge Traffic Control Proposed for Newmarket Residents

TP will go to the far edges for you to get things done

Speeding Traffic

Going door to door during this Ward 5 campaign, one of the issues that jumps out more than some others is speeding traffic - particularly along short-cut type routes on some back roads frequented by school kids and in some cases around schools. Speed bumps have been found to be ineffective, with speeders tending to race from bump to bump while they just slow down emergency vehicles so what else can we do?

There are a number of ways to combat this and one is by using mobile speed display boards, which studies in areas of York Region have shown such use reduce speeds by 20% which I feel rotating locations with 2 per ward would suffice, and by increasing public safety messages, as well as increase use and awareness of Road Watch - but one of the most creative ideas I'm seeing implemented would cost no more than it would to repaint line lanes and acts as an additional deterrent to fast driving, called Edge-Lines. something they use in traffic calming measures.

Cutting Edge Traffic Control

The edge-line lanes system, according to Aftab from the Traffic Department in Markham, has been so successful that residents have been requesting it after seeing its successful use on other local roads.

Not To Scale

What the edge-line system consists of a creation of an inner lines pathway that juts suddenly one way then another in enough timed succession that it forces the driver to slow down to follow it. The best case scenario has them start out with a 9 M wide road and the edges of the street ( 3 1/2 M) are then utilized depending on location, as parking lanes in some cases, bike paths in others or non-use in others depending on the situation / location. A 7 M's width base can also be used need be, perhaps using only one side edge for stretches.

Used in Thornhill by the City Of Markham on various stretches, including their Green Lane, Yonge / Baythorne and Royal Orchard Blvd., it serves as a unique cost efficient method to effectively slow down traffic and I believe it would be a transferable, safe, solution to add to Newmarket's roads safety plan.

TP has pushed for this rail trestle be used as a mural art piece for youth for some years now See TP's Video

I actually came across the road safety system as I drove a road using the edge-line system, remarking out loud how ingenious I thought it was. It's something that is tough to visualize and so for those purposes I will attempt  a drawing to show the edge- lines lanes system...but please it is not to scale!

By providing a location to 'art up". we can be proactive about vandalism

Combine all of the above to work together cohesively and we have the trappings of a pretty good roads safety system.Thinking outside the box, with a tried and tested method, this is the type of work you can expect from me as a Councillor - using resources to find answers that help me serve the townsfolk as best I can.

At the end of the day its about finding solutions or aids to problems being experienced by the residents and the town...everything else is secondary.

Tom Pearson4Council out!