At their meeting on Tuesday, January 14, Coteau-du-Lac's elected officials tabled a by-law stating their intention to reduce traffic speeds on two major arteries in the municipality. Over the next few months, motorists will be invited to travel at 40 km/h on chemin du Fleuve and rue Principale, rather than the current 50 km/h. 

“After installing speed cameras on these streets, the traffic committee recommended to council that the speed limit be reduced to 40 km/h on these two main arteries. According to the radar readings, motorists are travelling at speeds in excess of 60 km/h, most of the time and in most cases,” explained Mayor Andrée Brosseau. 

Councillor André Legros, a member of the traffic committee, explained the origin of this recommendation. “Many pedestrians along these streets are concerned, as there is a bike path and sidewalks on both sides. Vehicles frequently brush against them. There are also school zones in these areas, which means that many children use them on a daily basis. It would be a shame if an accident were to occur.”

Questioned by Alexis Buisson, a citizen of Chemin du Fleuve, Mr. Legros acknowledged that this gesture is a first step towards another solution that could prove permanent to reduce speeding on these streets.  

“We're going to start with this solution and hope that motorists will adjust their travel speed. If the street speed is 70 km/h, our natural reflex will be to drive at 80 km/h. We figure that if the speed is 40km, people will drive at 50km/h, which will still be better than at present.  After that, it's not impossible that another solution will be implemented on these streets to slow down the speed,” he added. 

The citizen recalled that the particular configuration of Chemin Saint-Emmanuel, between Route 338 and Chemin du Fleuve, could be a good solution to force motorists to adjust their cruising speed. 

“We've already installed bollards on chemin du Fleuve with this in mind. The Sûreté du Québec will also be made aware of the need to reduce speed, and we will be asking them to patrol these areas more frequently. Finally, a traffic study will be carried out in the next few months, which will give us a clearer idea of the solutions to be implemented. It's also important to bear in mind that the elected officials have applied to the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable for an intelligent traffic light that automatically turns red if the driver approaching it is driving too fast,” concluded Coteau-du-Lac General Manager Jacques Legault.  

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