Councillor says city’s speed management program not working, wants changes
Cambridge needs to explore more options: Kimpson
Coun. Corey Kimpson thinks it’s time for a review of the Cambridge’s Speed Management Program.
After city staff presented a report to council Tuesday outlining its action plan for 2024, Kimpson felt it just wasn’t enough and directed staff to look into other options.
During discussions on the report, several councillors pointed to streets in their respective wards — 1, 2, 3 and 8 specifically — that wouldn’t see traffic-calming methods, despite concern from residents about speeds on those roads.
Kimpson said the speed management program has been in place for a number of years — it was passed in 2019 — but the city’s action plans to combat speeding “don’t seem to be working, at least not to the satisfaction of our residents.”
Currently, the city has several traffic-calming methods for its 29 locations, including the pilot for the seasonal rubber speed cushion, radar message boards, bollards, the Tommy and Friends program and the Automated Speed Enforcement Program in school zones, courtesy of the region. There is also speed enforcement by Waterloo Regional Police.
“I’m wondering why we are continuing to do the same things that aren’t providing the satisfaction to our residents? All they want is a safe community. I’m just wondering what else we can do?” Kimpson said.
Shannon Noonan, the city’s manager of transportation engineering, reminded councillors speeding is, often times, a perceived issue.
“We are basing it on data that we collect, and the data is not always showing that speeding is present,” Noonan said.
“In those situations, we’re trying to educate people on that situation. As far as additional things we can do, we are continually growing our tool box of items and we are looking at a road safety program, where we would bring all of the tools together, as well as some partners, such as Waterloo Regional Police.”
Hardy Bromberg, deputy city manager, piggybacked Noonan’s comments, saying if council would like the city to provide additional service levels or change them, or provide a different program, a plan should be presented as part of 2025 budget discussions.
“There may be some additional impacts to resources or costing, but certainly those are things that we can work on in preparation for that upcoming budget discussion, if council so chooses,” Bromberg said.
Kimpson noted whether speeding is actual of perceived, as councillors, it is their job to improve safety for residents.
“The residents are feeling as though their communities are unsafe and feeling as though vehicles are speeding. I would like to look into what else we can do to make our communities safer,” she said, adding she has seen cars hit homes in her ward.