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PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2002.
St. Joseph rumble strips to be ground down
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
Huron County councillors voted
Thursday to have rumble -strips on
County Rd. 84 in St. Joseph ground
down in an effort to reduce the noise
that has upset residents of the
hamlet.
The vote overturned a
recommendation of the agriculture,
public works and seniors committee
that the situation at the corner be
_monitored further and that residents
advise their neighbours that driving
at slower speeds reduces the amount
of noise. (When OPP monitored the
corner for a two-hour period, three
of five speeding charges laid were
for drivers who lived within 500
metres of the rumble strips.)
But led by Bluewater Councillors
Bill Dowson, Paul Klopp and
Dianne Denomme, a lengthy debate
showed many councillors didn't
want to continue the status quo.
Dowson said he's in support of
rumble strips which warn drivers of
an upcoming stop sign, "but in built-
up areas I have a different thought."
Dowson said he lives 200 yards
away from a set of rumble strips and
can hear them even though they've
been worn -down by eight years' of
traffic. (County officials claimed the
noise from the St. Joseph strips had
been reduced by two years of use
and would be reduced further.)
Neighbours in St. Joseph have
been complaining about the noise
since the county repaved the road
after it was downloaded by the
province. Following a roads
department policy, rumble strips
were installed on County Rd. 84 at
the Hwy. 21 intersection.
South Huron Councillor Rob
Morley said he'd never seen a
county policy on installation of
rumble strips. Echoing Dowson he
noted that there were no strips on the
road when it was a provincial
highway and when most of the
residents had built their houses there.
Denomme agreed, saying reducing
the noise would improve the quality
of life of local residents. There are
no statistics to show that this is a
dangerous corner and that lives will
be risked if the strips aren't there,
she said.
But committee chair Bernie
MacLellan said a lawyer would
"have a field day" if there was a
serious accident after the county had
removed a safety feature.
Norm Fairies of Howick worried
that removing rumble strips could
start a trend, noting that on County
Rd. 30 in his township, there were
rumble strips that also were close to
homes.
"If we take them out in one area
we' ll have no end of requests to take
them out," he warned .
Dave Urlin, South Huron
councillor noted that despite talk of a
county policy there were no rumble
strips put into the road at Brucefield
when it was repaved. County
Engineer Sandra Lawson explained
that the strips should have been put
in but through an oversight were not.
"If you forgot to do it and didn't go
back (and do it) you're admitting
you're not following the policy,"
Urlin argued.
Goderich Councillor Deb Shewfelt
said he had driven over the St.
Joseph strips after receiving
complaints and he found them noisy.
"Let's try it," he said in speaking
about the possibility of grinding the
strips down. "The last time I
- checked they're (the local residents)
the ones paying the bills of the
county."
Lawson warned that grinding
down the strips would reduce the
vibration inside a car passing over vote by a margin of 9-8.
the strips and it is the vibration, more Klopp then made a motion to
than the noise, that alerts a driver of instruct Lawson to contact a
an approaching corner. "You will contractor about grinding down the
reduce the effectiveness of the rumble strips so they won't make as
rumble strips," she argued. much noise.
Despite her plea councillors Carol Mitchell of Central Huron
defeated the motion in a recorded argued that this would mean, in
You can catch yourself speeding
Sr. Const. Don Shropshall was on hand for the Road Watch
program's volunteer recognition barbecue to explain ttv?
workings of the new radar-equipped speed sign. The
$5,000 piece of equipment was donated by local mutual
insurance companies and is intended to make drivers more
aware of the speed they are travelling. (David Blaney photo)
effect, removing the strips but
Lawson said she had spoken with
Lavis Contracting of Clinton who
said they have a new machine that
could grind off a fine-enough layer
of asphalt to leave the strips intact.
Mitchell -and North Huron's Doug
Layton worried that lowering the
strips might reduce their
effectiveness but Lawson said as
long as the grinding doesn't remove
the strips there will still he some
vibration.
The motion was carried.