We take pride in ensuring our roads are safe. The Transportation and Fleet Services Division acknowledges and responds to all roads-related concerns, including speeding, and the need for neighborhood traffic calming measures.
We strive to meet the needs of all users including cars, transit, pedestrians (including those with accessibility needs), cyclists, emergency vehicles, commercial transportation, snow removal equipment and agricultural vehicles.
Report a Traffic Concern
Traffic Calming Techniques
There are many effective traffic calming measures to reduce speeding. They can be physical (alterations to the roadway like medians or other engineering designs) or passive (enhanced signage, pavement markings, etc.). These are some examples that are used in the Municipality of Meaford.
| Digital Speed Signs |
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A digital speed display sign provides passive traffic calming. Real-time speeds are relayed to drivers and flash when vehicle speeds exceed the posted speed limit. Meaford already has permanent speed display signs on St. Vincent Street, in the school zone of Georgian Bay Community School. The signs have a practical use in both urban and rural settings and remind motorists to slow down. Some speed signs can be placed on a trailer which can be rotated through a number of locations during all seasons, and put in locations identified as having speed concerns. They work well as a temporary measure to address sporadic speeding behaviours, so they will be left in one spot for a month to discourage speeding. |
| Speed Sensors |
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Speed complaints are often targeted locations in the Municipality, where residents notice excessive speeding. The Municipality owns traffic counters to determine the average daily trips on particular roads, and to help track and manage the use of our roads for our resurfacing programs. These sensors also track the speed of vehicles, and can help identify speeding issues.They are generally left in place for 7 days, and run 24 hours a day to provide a full report on traffic patterns. |
| Targeted Enforcement |
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Police presence is used to monitor problematic driving behavior’s on road ways and issue tickets for violations. This acts as a visible deterrent and helps with compliance in both urban and rural settings. The purpose of targeted enforcement is to make drivers more aware of their speed in a specific area. This measure typically only provides a temporary benefit, since speed limit enforcement is not available on a regular, on-going basis. |
Speed Calming Process
Municipal staff have been working with the OPP on a collaborative approach to targeted enforcement.
- A formal complaint is received from a resident.
- Municipal staff review existing traffic count data to see if there are any concerning traffic patterns. If there are, speed sensors will be deployed to the area gather further data.
- If the speed sensor data shows clear speeding issues (vehicles going above the limit multiple times a day, maybe at certain times of the day, or excessively over the limit), the data and complaint form will be sent to the OPP to set up targeted enforcement. The OPP will then provide an update to both the resident and the Municipality once targeted enforcement has been completed.
- If there are occasional vehicles that are over the limit with no distinct pattern, the Municipality will deploy digital speed signs to the area.
- If there are few to no vehicles over the limit, or none excessively over the limit, the Municipality will respond to the resident that that no additional traffic calming is required.
This process is a beneficial use of our speed collection data, and ensures locations identified by residents are adequately investigated and followed up.
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