Kneehill County councillors approved their new traffic control bylaw which included slightly lower speed limits in hamlets.
The decision was made at the Sept. 14 regular meeting.
Traffic Control Bylaw #1800 was presented by Debra Grosfield, manager of protective services, who noted the bylaw had already passed first and second reading earlier in 2021 and further noted one of the most noticeable changes in the new document was the lowering of hamlet speed limits from 50 km/h to 40 km/h.
Grosfield also pointed out a section of the traffic control bylaw which applies to off-highway vehicles, which many producers use for work on their farms.
“Section 10 Off-Highway Vehicles (OHV): Conditions on Off-Highway Vehicles, including in Hamlets,” was the section she referred to.
“Without this bylaw, any OHV operator may be ticketed for various reasons. With this bylaw, we are allowing the safe operation of OHVs throughout the County,” stated her report.
Coun. Ken King stated he spoke to residents in his division, specifically in the Hamlet of Huxley, and they would welcome some county signage that spelled out what the speed limits in town are.
King stated most people agreed it would take effort to get going faster than 40 km/hr. in Huxley and hence no one he spoke to was opposed to the speed limit drop but would definitely like to see some speed limit signs.
Coun. Debbie Penner said she heard no opposition from the public over the lowering of speed limits in hamlets; the only complaint she also heard was regarding signage, specifically, residents would like signs showing where the fish dam is located.
Coun. Glen Keiver stated he continued to have a problem with the way Kneehill County handles weight restrictions.
Keiver said last spring unlicensed manure haulers damaged a county road so badly it took the municipal staff an entire day to fix it. However, no tickets were written for the manure haulers.
Keiver added if that was an oil and gas company that damaged the road, they would have been ticketed for what they did, while agricultural operators don’t get those tickets.
Grosfield stated the county has authority to set weight restrictions on roads but also noted “…the provincial government came down on some of those roads and said no weight restrictions.”
Grosfield noted in her report to council the new traffic bylaw combined several other older documents, plus replaced a few others.
Councillors unanimously passed third reading.
Stu Salkeld, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
ECA Review
