Slow down, because speeding fines just doubled in the Town of Hawkesbury.
On Tuesday, October 15, council adopted a bylaw designating all roads within town limits as a Community Safety Zone, doubling fines for speeding and other traffic offences. A resolution proposing the adoption of the bylaw was approved by council on September 9.
Community Safety Zones already existed in Hawkesbury around schools and recreation facilities.
Council had become more concerned about unsafe traffic speed, and also began considering increased safety measures after the Consortium du transport scolaire de l’Est, which is the school bus transport agency for the French public and Catholic school boards, decided to expand the distance students are required to walk to reach their busy stops in Hawkesbury. Primary and secondary students are now required to walk up to 3.2 kilometres, with an estimated walking time of up to approximately 38 minutes to reach their bus stops.
All councillors voted in favour of the Community Safety Zone bylaw, except for Councillor Julie Séguin. She said it seemed like council was rushing the decision, but emphasized she fully supports increased traffic safety. However, she is concerned about transparency and communication about municipal decision making.
Several residents have expressed opposition to the establishment of a town-wide Community Safety Zone because it permits council to have automated speed enforcement (ASE) cameras—also known as photo radar, installed at various locations. Hawkesbury council meetings do not have a public question period, but residents are allowed to request to appear before council as a delegation to ask questions or share concerns. Séguin alluded to residents not having the opportunity to easily ask questions.
Councillor Yves Paquette said there are always opportunities for people to make delegations to council but no one did. Some of the nine citizens in the audience began to shout, but were told to stop by Mayor Robert Lefebvre.
Councillor Jeanne Charlebois emphasized the bylaw only contains a provision to allow for the installation of ASE/photo radar cameras, but is not a final decision to install them.
“This does not mean it has been decided.”
“At this moment, the council is not supporting the installation of speed cameras,” Charlebois said.
Councillor Antonios Tsourounakis made similar remarks. “Today we’re not deciding that question, we’re deciding on making a community safety zone or not,” he said.
“What’s on the table this evening is the establishment of a community safety zone,” Lefebvre emphasized.
Lefebvre said all members of council are concerned about traffic safety and there will be ongoing discussions about any further measures.
Chief Administrative Officer Sam Cardarelli said the designation of Community Safety Zones allows for fines to be doubled and provides significant assistance to police officers with enforcement.
In an interview following the council meeting, Séguin said the safety zone implementation was done too quickly.
“It felt rushed,” she said.
She said there is also a difference between requiring residents to reserve ahead as a delegation to council and allowing them to ask questions during a question period for items on the meeting agenda. She also said a full financial impact assessment on the Community Safety Zone was not done.
There had been a possibility the bylaw designating all roads in the Town of Hawkesbury as a Community Safety Zone would set the speed limit on all roads at 40 kilometres per hour. However, the bylaw adopted on October 15 does not change any speed limits on town streets, which vary from 25 kilometres per hour to 50 kilometres per hour.
As of Thursday, October 17, signage indicating the Community Safety Zone had been installed at the town limits along all roads entering Hawkesbury.
