They’re called temporary bollards and they'll be popping up across Springwater Township next year.
A flexible plastic sign with a laminated speed limit, it's attached to a rubber-covered hinge anchored into the middle of a road. Together with two more plastic posts, one on each shoulder, they visually narrow the roadway, forcing drivers to slow down and exercise caution while passing through.
They will be in use from May to October, as township council approved the ‘traffic-calming’ solution in an effort to find a way to get drivers to slow down in the municipality’s most vulnerable areas.
At Wednesday night’s regular council meeting, Coun. Matt Garwood recommended ‘pedestrian zone’ signs be installed at various locations in Elmvale and Midhurst and any other location in the township where staff think they would be effective.
Garwood had an image of the proposed pedestrian zone projected on the overhead screens in council chambers as he talked, so members could see exactly what he was suggesting.
“The specific locations in Elmvale I’ve chosen are focused on school zones,” Garwood said.
He said he arrived at those locations, following consultations with residents, school board trustees and Springwater staff.
Coun. Phil Fisher, who seconded the motion, talked about council’s responsibility to its residents — not only to provide them solutions that work, but are also cost effective.
“I’m wholeheartedly behind this initiative,” Fisher said. “This is something that people have asked for and it’s up to our council to tackle it.”
As Fisher talked, Deputy Mayor George Cabral repeatedly glanced up at the screen.
“When I read this, I pictured signs ‘pedestrian area.' These here," Cabral said, pointing to the graphic on the screen, "are dangerous. These here are traffic hazards for people on motorcycles and bicycles.”
To illustrate his point, he recalled an event last Saturday. While he was riding his motorcycle in ‘The Ride for Boots on the Ground’ fundraiser in Mississauga, he ran into a bollard.
“We were going through a small community and there was a little sharp turn,” he said. “All the bikes bunched up, the speed limit dropped from 80 to 60 and then 40. Two bikes in front of me swerved to avoid a bunch up in front of them and I pulled out to avoid them and I clipped one the bollards.”
While he wasn’t injured, Cabral said motorcyclists and bicyclists are already dealing with enough issues — dogs that love to chase cyclists, drivers who encroach on the cycle paths, inclement weather — they don’t need another hazard on the road.
“While I understand the need to control speeding, trading one element of danger for another is not reasonable, in my opinion,” Cabral said.
He said he could not support the motion and he implored council to reject the motion.
Fisher respectfully disagreed with Cabral.
Fisher, too, had a recent bollard experience. He said he encountered one on his way into Bracebridge recently, approaching it, he said he felt constricted and instinctively slowed down.
“I believe that these are a measure that are very useful,” Fisher said.
Mayor Jennifer Coughlin conceded both views have merit, but said council must do something, even if it fails.
“This might be the wrong thing,” she said. “We might learn a very hard and valuable lesson. But I'm OK getting it wrong. I’m OK having to go to residents and say we tried.
“We need to continue to make our communities safer," the mayor added.
