Algonquin Highlands resident Rae Mavor is calling on council to address safety concerns along North Shore Road by introducing a community safety zone along its busiest and most dangerous stretch.
She and husband, Ken, have lived on the road for 53 years and say they’ve never seen things as bad as they are now. They appeared before Algonquin Highlands council Sept. 5 to deliver a petition, signed by 99 other people, demanding the municipality take action.
“People are terrified to walk the road no matter what time of day it is – when there’s two cars on there, there’s no room for anything else,” Mavor said. “And the speeds people are travelling at makes everything that much worse. The road is for everybody – drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, dogs. We all have to respect one another.”
Mavor said there has always been problems with the road, but things took a turn four or five years ago. After hearing how a neighbour, out for an afternoon walk, had to dive into the ditch to avoid an oncoming vehicle earlier this summer, and seeing her daughter-in-law clipped by a passing car’s wing mirror, she decided enough was enough.
Her first step was to walk every inch of the approximate 3.6 kilometre stretch of North Shore Road from Hwy. 35 to St. Peter’s Bridge to note any danger she encountered or concern she had. Next, she drafted her petition, which she said has been supported by all but three residents of the road.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take to have people realize they need to slow down. There are mothers with babies walking down the road. Most residents have given up walking on the road completely. We’re almost prisoners on our lots,” Mavor said.
In a community safety zone speed limits are lowered, usually to 40 km/h, signs are erected encouraging people to slow down, and fines for those caught speeding are doubled. Mavor said many communities are opting for them to address problem areas.
They’re littered across major cities like Toronto and Ottawa, while Niagara Region has 12 community safety zones. Minden recently introduced one on Water Street and Bobcaygeon Road. There’s one in Ingoldsby, too.
Mavor contests there are more cars on the road, due to the expansion of the Maple Lake landfill. She’s also seen an increased presence of transport trucks.
“They’ll use North Shore Road as a shortcut to get to Haliburton from Huntsville. With the turn at St. Peter’s Bridge, trucks have hit and damaged it. I’m hoping if the township lowers the speed, the trucks will stop coming down here,” Mavor said.
Algonquin Highlands’ previous council turned down a request to lower the posted speed limit on the road in 2022. Deputy mayor Jennifer Dailloux, presiding over the meeting in the absence of mayor Liz Danielsen, said council would consider the request.
Public works manager Adam Thorn said he’s working on a report for an upcoming meeting filling council in on statistics gathered by a digital speed sign that was placed on the road earlier this year. As an early teaser, he noted 70 per cent of vehicles tracked by the sign were travelling less than 50 km/h – the posted limit.
He worried designating the entire stretch of road as a community safety zone may be ineffective. Councillors Lisa Barry and Sabrina Richards agreed.
Thorn said the answer may be requesting extra patrols from Haliburton Highlands OPP.
“I’ve sat on North Shore Road and watched cars go by. I lived on the road from 2010 to 2017, I still run down [the road] regularly. There’s good days and there’s bad days,” Thorn said. “If we reduce the speed limit, is that going to stop traffic? Is it going to slow them down? It’s enforcement [that changes behaviour]. Staff are doing what we can to help reduce speeding, but at the end of the day it’s enforcement of the law we need to curb it.”
