In typical fashion for intergovernmental-relations, it would appear common sense isn’t likely to prevail.
While that could arguably be said of the current work to establish better inter-municipal collaboration, it is undoubtedly true in the case of Westlock County’s dealings with Alberta Transportation about lowering the speed limit on Highway 44 south of Westlock at the county industrial park.
There are no turning lanes on the highway, and there is a significant amount of traffic that already goes to and comes from that industrial park. Considering it’s just a half-mile out of town, anyway, it’s perplexing why the speed limit is 100 km/h through that stretch. In all likelihood 70 km/h would be more appropriate.
The county wants to further develop the park — an understandable position considering nearly every municipality everywhere is looking to increase its tax base — but have been told they can’t do that unless they want to install turning lanes at a cost of roughly $2 million.
Asking the county to pony up that money for safety improvements on a provincial highway is another in a long list of examples of the province downloading some of its responsibilities onto municipalities.
That’s just unreasonable, when lowering the speed limit would cost substantially less — just the time it takes to dig up the current speed limit signs and install some new ones.
The explanation we got this week from an Alberta Transportation representative about why lowering the speed limits isn’t an option is lackluster, to say the least.
To suggest that drivers must rely on visual cues to determine the safe driving speed is absolutely true, but to say that because Westlock is “a couple miles away” — the fact it’s actually only half a mile notwithstanding — so people wouldn’t think they had to slow down is ludicrous.
There are posted speed limits, and if a sign at the side of the highway indicating a speed limit isn’t enough of a visual cue for drivers, then we might as well just include driver’s licences as prizes in Crackerjack boxes.
Granted the province employs many engineers and experts to determine appropriate traffic safety policy — but if there’s a good explanation in this case for why they can’t lower the speed limit, we have yet to hear it.
