A motion put forward by Bayfield ward councillor Bill Whetstone to ask staff for a report on the potential for reducing the speed in the village was passed at this week’s Bluewater Council meeting.
Whetstone says there was very little debate.
“Very little debate at this point in time because what the motion basically was for staff to bring back a report as to the feasibility of reducing the speed limit to thirty kilometres an hour in the village of Bayfield. It passed unanimously with no objections,” Whetstone said.
The change would only be made in the residential roads of the village and not on Highway 21, Whetstone notes. The current speed limit is fifty kilometres an hour.
Whetstone adds there was some discussion about potentially looking at the rest of Bluewater.
“There was some discussion about potentially looking at the rest of Bluewater and a motion was made also for that to see whether the feasibility would be to do some sort of speed reduction in the rest of Bluewater, as well. So it’ll be interesting when it comes back,” added Whetstone.
Whetstone says one of the reasons for reducing the speed limit from the current fifty kilometres an hour to thirty is that there are no sidewalks in the village. He says he wouldn’t be surprised if some of the other villages decide to drop the speed limit down to thirty where there are no sidewalks, and forty kilometres an hour where there are sidewalks.
Some councillors had some concerns about how it would work, Whetstone says, and some people were under the impression that the reduced speed would apply to Highway 21, which is not the case.
