Speeding a major concern for residents of the townships
Wilmot Township resident Mark Ratcliffe says something has to be done to deter speeding on the country road he lives on.
Ratcliffe has lived on Tye Road in Haysville for 16 years and in that time he said there’s been some close calls.
He said he even had one himself last winter when he was snow blowing at the bottom of his driveway, doing a single pass on the road, when a vehicle whipped by and nearly hit him.
With about a dozen homes on the street — some with children — Ratcliffe worries someone will be hurt, adding that he regularly sees vehicles exceeding the posted 50-km/h speed limit.
“My single biggest concern is that some kid is going to get hit,” he said.
On top of that, he said heavy trucks are often on the road, even though a sign indicates they are not allowed.
“They destroy the road,” he said.
Ratcliffe’s speeding concerns are shared by many residents in Waterloo Region’s four townships, which have a combined population of more than 65,000. While each of the townships — North Dumfries, Wilmot, Wellesley and Woolwich — have their own unique municipal issues going into Monday’s election, one of the most common concerns heard by politicians going doorto-door is speeding.
It’s not surprising for Rob Deutschmann, the only regional chair candidate who lives in a township. He also served as mayor of North Dumfries from 2010 to
2014. He said even when he first started campaigning for mayor back in 2010, speeding was the No. 1 issue he heard at the doors.
“I was really surprised, but then it started to make sense,” he said.
“Let’s say you’re driving along a country road and you see a collection of 15 or 20 houses within one area — there’s no sidewalks there, so if people want to visit each other they’ve basically got to go down to the shoulder of the road to walk down to somebody else’s place,” he said.
“And they lose pets too. Pets get struck and killed on the road — one lady had lost three cats in one year.”
In Woolwich, Mayor Sandy Shantz, who has been acclaimed, said speeding and heavy traffic is a major concern in the small towns because people motoring through them don’t slow down from the highway speeds on roadways surrounding them.
“I keep hearing — when I was campaigning last time and we still hear it all through this term of council — concerns with traffic calming,” said Shantz.
“I had a call just recently from somebody who doesn’t live here but was driving through and saw someone come up really quick behind a horse and buggy ... trying to pass the horse and buggy.”
Townships attempt their own solutions for roads that are under their control — this includes measures such as purchasing electronic signs that notify drivers of the speed they are travelling. But, in many cases, regional roads are involved and therefore any measures taken require co-operation and approval from the region.
For example, Shantz said Woolwich is still looking to the region for a bypass for Elmira, which would divert heavy truck traffic away from the downtown. This is a project regional council recently agreed to assess in the next few years as part of its Transportation Master Plan.
Speeding is also a common concern heard by North Dumfries Ward 1 Coun. Rodney Rolleman.
“In the villages, especially in the village of Ayr, speeding is always a concern,” he said.
He said the township has initiated a host of measures to try and slow down traffic. For example, some school zones will be getting flexible road delineators — posts in the roadway that reiterate the posted speed limit and slow down traffic.
The township is also looking at piloting raised intersections — like a very large speed bump — in an Ayr subdivision that is expected to be constructed in the next couple of years, said Rolleman.
But one area that’s of particular concern to residents is the intersection of Trussler Road and Cedar Creek Road. A collision there just last week resulted in a death. From 2013 to 2017, there were 23 collisions reported at the intersection.
Last week, the region announced it would install a temporary set of traffic lights at the intersection. These are expected to be operational by November. The region will then assess the best method of traffic control in the area, comparing traffic signals with the possible benefits of a roundabout, said Mike Jones, supervisor of traffic engineering for the region.
Deutschmann explains that often residents of the townships feel they don’t get the level of service they deserve.
“One of the frustrations then from a township perspective is, do we have an adequate level of policing?” said Deutschmann. “I appreciate that that’s a frustration for the Waterloo Regional Police as well, in terms of providing adequate service. But from the township (perspective) we don’t always feel like we have adequate services.”
But traffic and speeding concerns aren’t the only challenges shared among the townships. Deutschmann, who was on regional council as North Dumfries mayor when the township mayors started meeting regularly to discuss their needs, said another big issue is the need for more senior housing options.
“The small towns are very close-knit communities ... you see everybody at the grocery store, at the hockey games, at the soccer fields and you grow up together volunteering together, giving back to your community together,” he said.
As people age and are no longer able to live independently, they look to move. If appropriate living options aren’t available in the townships, they have to leave the community for the city, he said.
This topic came up in a recent candidates forum and debate in the Township of Wellesley, which was co-hosted by Cheryl McCabe, who runs the Wellesley Community Connections Facebook group.
“Because it’s a farming community, when a farmer goes to retire and doesn’t want his 200 acres anymore where does he go?” she said. “He doesn’t want to go into Waterloo or Kitchener but he’s not able to manage the farm anymore. It’s a hard call for somebody who wants to still stay small town.”
While speeding and affordable and senior housing are issues facing the townships, there are others — some unique to particular townships such as flooding in Wilmot or a lack of public transit options in North Dumfries.
Ultimately, residents will indicate what is most important to them when they cast their ballots — which will look a little different in Wellesley, Woolwich, and North Dumfries this time around.
The three townships have done away with paper ballots in favour of electronic and telephone voting, thought to offer residents a faster and more accessible voting option.
“For a lot of people I think they’ll find that if they know who they’re voting for they can do it all at home without driving anywhere, in probably about a minute,” said Jeff Smith, deputy clerk with the Township of Woolwich. “And it’s accessible. So for someone away on personal travel, suffering from an illness, working day or nights, or someone who has a disability or difficulty travelling — they don’t have to go out to a location, they can again vote from home and they can also use their own accessibility tools if they have them.”
Electronic and telephone voting first opened to residents on Oct. 9 and will remain open until 8 p.m. on election day.