It's only a matter of time before a speeding vehicle loses control on McQueen Shaver Boulevard, jumps the curb and barrel rolls through a backyard, says Coun. Adam Cooper.
That's why the Ward 6 councillor will table a motion next week that asks the region to designate the south boundary road a community safety zone. If approved by council, the motion could set the stage for the installation of an automated speed enforcement (ASE) camera somewhere along the stretch.
Right now the Highway Traffic Act only allows ASEs in community safety zones and school safety zones.
Further to that motion, Cooper will table a second motion he hopes will add city council's weight to a request tabled by regional councillor Rob Deutschmann last month, asking the province to change the Highway Traffic Act and give municipalities the power to install the ASEs wherever they see fit.
They're among a number of measures the city and region is moving forward with this year to tackle the growing problem of speeding, including lowering speed limits to 40 km/hr in all residential areas and 30 km/hr in school zones.
Cooper believes McQueen Shaver is a special case and says Waterloo regional police have identified it as "an area of excessive speeding and stunt driving beyond levels normally seen on municipal roads," with residents and police regularly witnessing speeds that have approached 200 km/hr.
Those drivers pose a danger to pedestrians, motorists and nearby residents, he says.
Public information officer with Waterloo regional police Const. Andre Johnson backs up the claim, confirming in an email to CambridgeToday that since the road opened in August 2021, police have conducted enforcement on 71 separate occasions on the four-lane stretch and laid 206 charges, including 133 for speed.
Stunt driving charges happen frequently along the boundary road, most recently on April 18 when officers nabbed a Brampton driver travelling at 156 km/hr in the posted 60 km/hr zone.
In August last year, police laid three stunt driving charges within three hours, at least one of which was for speeds up to 120 km/hr, double the posted speed limit.
"Our enforcement efforts are a significant time commitment to this area," Johnson says, adding police continue to regularly patrol the stretch.
ASE cameras will solve the problem and take the burden off police, Cooper says.
The cameras have been so successful in school safety zones across the region that the company hired to process the tickets is overwhelmed.
In a nine month period in 2022, over 5,000 tickets were sent out from 16 locations resulting in over $180,000 in fines.
The processing backlog from the cameras forced regional council to pause its vote on Deutschmann's motion until a June staff report details the capacity of the ASE program as it aims to expand to an additional 16 school safety zones this year.
Cooper expects a city council vote on his motions could also be delayed as they await that report, but he wants something done soon to mitigate the growing concern.
"Residents deserve some safety," he says.
Addressing anticipated criticism of the measure, Cooper says the common complaint the cameras are a money grab doesn't apply when they're installed to solve a legitimate safety issue for residents whose homes back onto the road.
And he says he's not out to lighten the wallets of casual speeders who don't realize they're going five or 10 km/hr over the limit.
He knows how easy it is to creep over the 60 km/hr limit on the semi-rural, wide-open straightaway, especially on the downhill.
It's the intentional speeders and reckless drivers he wants to put the brakes on and sees no other way to do it given the limited resources of police.
Lowering speeds will also go a long way to solving another problem that has plagued neighbours of McQueen Shaver Boulevard since the road opened.
Residents in the area will learn later this spring when they will get relief from traffic noise as the region considers designating the south boundary road a heavy truck bypass. The designation will set in motion a plan to build noise walls along a majority of the stretch at an estimated price tag of $4 million.
"I feel for the neighbours. The noise from regular traffic is quite excessive," Cooper says. Add noise from motorcycles and speeding cars and it's "incredible," with some cars just screaming down the hill.
