Two weeks after the speed limit signs on a South Porcupine highway were mistakenly moved, Timmins council has given the green light to the changes.
Tuesday, council approved extending the lower speed zone for westbound traffic on Highway 101 to just after Finn Town (the residential area on the north side of the highway). The 80 km/h zone now starts just after the guard rails at Porcupine Creek.
Recently, the speed zone for was changed for eastbound traffic on Highway 101 heading into South Porcupine from Timmins.
The speed drops are the same — 70 km/h from 80 km/h, then another decrease to 50 km/h — but now start before the Bruce Avenue wye exit instead of after. Timmins council approved the changes at its March 22 meeting and the signs were moved Wednesday, April 6.
When the speed limit signs were changed, city crews also moved the westbound signs in error. That moved the start of the 80 km/h zone to after Finn Town instead of shortly after the OPP station. Westbound changes were not included in the bylaw that council approved at the March meeting.
In March, director of growth and infrastructure Pat Seguin said staff hadn't looked at changing the westbound speeds because they were trying to deal with the issue of drivers speeding heading into an urban area.
“It’s a more difficult thing to try to slow people down when you’re entering a higher speed. You’re going into four lanes, you’re getting into that faster area,” he said at the March meeting.
This week, his comments took a different direction.
He said the westbound changes were intended to be in the original bylaw.
“We felt it was safer to keep it similar and change it at the river,” he said.
If the speed zone had remained the same, Seguin said people turning into driveways in Finn Town would be crossing traffic that's accelerating.
For the eastbound changes, he said the speed reduction is "working fairly well".
“I think it’s resolved the issues with speeding in the community safety zone,” he said.
After years of driving the highway, he admitted slowing down earlier is an adjustment.
