County of Barrhead residents who want to drive their golf carts on municipal roadways will soon be able to do so legally, as long as they adhere to stick to pre-selected roads and follow specific rules.
Councillors approved the bylaw during their May 6 meeting, unanimously giving it third and final reading.
Council gave first and second readings to the Golf Cart Pilot Project Bylaw (Bylaw 3-2025) at its April 1 meeting.
In late October, the province announced that it had tweaked the Alberta Traffic Safety Act (TSA) to create a five-year pilot project allowing residents in select rural communities to drive golf carts on pre-selected municipal roadways.
In Alberta, driving golf carts on public roadways is prohibited unless specifically allowed as part of a municipal bylaw.
Councillors first discussed the potential of joining the pilot project at their August Committee of the Whole meeting, deciding to apply to be added to the list of municipalities in the pilot project.
Council needed to delay giving final reading of the bylaw to learn if Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors had approved the municipality's submission.
The ministry returned their application, stating they needed to adjust the bylaw before they could sign off and include them in the pilot project.
Community peace officer Shae Guy said the ministry asked the county to make relatively minor changes to the bylaw, two of which amounted to wording changes, such as deleting a date and updating the signature line, and adding clarifying words on which side a golf cart driver should use when passing another vehicle and adding names to the roads in the allowable route discriptions, diagrams and signage.
Designated golf cart routes allowed under the bylaw include the Hamlet of Thunder Lake, the Idle Hours, Greendale, Whiterock Beach and Murray's Beach in Lac La Nonne.
Part of the reason the municipality chose the routes is that they are recreational areas where residents already use golf carts for transportation, is because the provincial project requirements that golf cart use is restricted to roads with speed limits that don't exceed 50 km/h.
Under the bylaw, golf cart drivers have at least a learner's permit, the vehicles must be privately owned, and their owners must carry a minimum of $2 million of liability insurance.
Guy also noted at the April council meeting that the golf carts and their drivers are subject to the same rules that govern other drivers under the TSA and the county's Traffic Bylaw, specifically parking.
Council is expected to discuss golf cart registration fees at its next council meeting on May 20.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
