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Speed limit reduced on Great Northern Road

Less-than-snappy local officials took nine years to get this done
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Sault Ste. Marie City Council voted tonight to reduce the speed limit on a section of Great Northern Road by 10 kilometres an hour.

Councillors agreed that the maximum speed from 800 metres north of Third Line to Fifth Line be dropped to 70 km/h.

Citizen Brian Wallenius campaigned for the reduction after moving to the area and reviewing accident reports on SooToday.

Wallenius collected 113 signatures on a petition to slow traffic in the area, with strong support from homeowners on Fourth and Fifth Line.

A study of motor vehicle collisions from January 2015 to December 2017 by Accident Support Services International Ltd. found 31 incidents involving 66 vehicles from north of Second Line to Third Line, and 36 incidents involving 57 vehicles from north of Third Line to Sixth Line.

"A reduction in the speed limit will require significant police enforcement to bring operating speeds more closely in line with a posted speed limit of 70 km/h," said Carl Rumiel, city design and construction engineer.

If traffic on Great Northern Road is dangerously zippy, the same cannot be said of local government's response to the problem.

Tonight's vote was in response to a nine-year-old resolution from City Council asking city staff and Sault Ste. Marie Police Service to look into speed limit reductions to improve safety on Great Northern Road/ Highway 17, one of the Sault's primary traffic arteries.

The new speed limit won't take effect until City Council makes it official by changing the traffic bylaw at a future meeting.

A technical review will be conducted within one year to determine how the change is working.


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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