CORNWALL – An extensive review of speed limits on county roads throughout the United Counties will be undertaken in early 2024.
The review, spurred on from a discussion by SDG Counties Council at their November 20, 2023 meeting, will look at the designated 66 settlement areas within the county. Speed limits in these areas should be 50 kilometres per hour.
Sixty-five of the 66 settlement areas have at least one approach on a county road.
Transportation Department staff will review areas to see if any existing speed reduction areas should change. Additionally, staff will check areas that do not have speed reductions against current standards. This will determine if any further speed reductions should be made.
The review will also determine if more 20 km/h transition zones need to be added for entering a speed restriction zone. Recently the Counties approved lengthening the speed transition zone entering Iroquois from Morrisburg on County Road 2.
Once completed in early 2024, the review will recommend areas that need to be changed – pending approval of council. A report will go to council at a future meeting.
Also at SDG Counties…
Eight new staff hired – In Fall 2023, SDG Counties Council approved a change to switch from seasonal snow plow drivers, to hiring full time employees for its Transportation Department
The move was to hire eight full time workers, expanding the full-time staffing for each of the Counties’ patrol garages by 1.3 people.
Full time workers hired by SDG would remain on staff in the summer in the department to complete projects like weed mowing, which in recent years has run behind schedule due to staffing constraints.
SDG Council was updated December 18, 2023 that all eight new employees have been hired. Over 60 applicants applied, with a short list of 20 candidates being interviewed. The final offers to the eight new staff were issued November 2023.
The plan to hire full time staff for the department will be reviewed in one year’s time to see how effective it has been.
Food for Fines a success – The SDG Library System’s “Food for Fines” raised over 800 items for local food banks. Between November 20 and December 4, 2023, the library system invited users who owed fines to donate non-perishable food items in lieu of paying the library fines.
For every item donated, $2 was waived from a user’s outstanding fines. In all, $1,558 in library fines were forgiven, all for a good cause. No break down of which local food banks were supported was provided.