(File Photo/CKOM News)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Big Issue

North Battleford CSO’s, RCMP looking to crackdown on speeding across city

Sep 20, 2023 | 5:00 PM

Speeding appears to be a major problem in certain areas of North Battleford.

Between November 2022 and July 2023, several radar speed traffic counters were placed across the city to determine where Community Safety Officers (CSO) and Battlefords RCMP should prioritize their resources to make the roads safer for everyone.

According to data, released by the City of North Battleford, over 20 per cent of drivers on 12 roads were going above the posted speed limit.

Arguably, the worst was 99 Street as roughly 68 per cent of vehicles were caught speeding. Over 290 were caught going at least 80 km/h in the 50 km/h zone.

Lindsey Holm, the director of protective services for the City of North Battleford, told battlefordsNOW he was surprised to see just how bad of an issue it’s become on 99 Street.

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“Usually, our main thoroughfares that are a little bit straighter and longer are the ones I expected to see higher rates of speeds,” he said.

That area also saw one of the fastest speeds as a vehicle was clocked going 141 km/h.

“In my mind, it’s just absolutely outrageous. I’ve driven emergency vehicles for over 23 years and at no point in time have I ever exceeded the speed limit at that rate,” Holm said.

This was echoed by the RCMP.

“If you’re doubling or even tripling the speed limit, the chances of you even being able to recognize someone coming onto the street or another vehicle and then being to act is very, very small,” said Inspector Jesse Gilbert, Commander for the Battlefords RCMP Detachment.

There were also two other instances, both on 100 Street, where a vehicle was clocked at more than 125 km/h. The fastest speed recorded was 154 on Territorial Drive which has a limit of 80 km/h.

A major concern is the amount of speeders in school zones. The speed limit is 30 km/h from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., however, data collected in front of five schools had the average speed at between 34 km/h and 36 km/h. Over 70 per cent of drivers in each zone were also caught speeding.

“Even a few kilometres over… kids can move pretty quickly and it’s very easy to miss them,” Gilbert added.

Meanwhile, the City of North Battleford plans on purchasing more of these counters to continue collecting this data.

These radars are different from traffic cameras as they only collect speed data and not license plates. Despite this, Holm explained they’re important as it helps them know where more enforcement should happen, where to use their resources, and if more is needed to stop the issue.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow