It will soon be illegal to park too close to traffic bollards in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
The flexible, yellow-and-black posts were installed in July along roadways to create a visual — and slight physical — narrowing of the road meant to encourage drivers to slow down.
In response to complaints of people parking too close to them, BWG council voted recently to add a “traffic calming device” definition to its traffic bylaw and ticket anyone who parks within 15 metres of the bollards.
The new parking rule could take four to six weeks to become official, but town enforcement staff may issue warning tickets.
“(Some residents have said) once (people) get used to them, they tend to speed through,” said Coun. Ron Orr, adding several Bond Head residents have requested a second set of bollards on Line 7.
The $4,000 project includes bollards installed on Line 7 at the western edge of Bond Head; Northgate Drive between Longview Drive and Fox Run Lane; and West Park Avenue between Holland Street West and Huron Lane.
Coun. Peter Ferragine, who is a member of the town’s traffic committee, said staff and the committee are investigating different kinds of traffic calming strategies.
“It all comes down to cost. That’s a big part of it,” he said. “It did work in the beginning, and I feel that it still does work. The ones who feel they don’t have anything to worry about still speed through.”
The town has previously done traffic studies to establish a baseline of speed and volume, and it plans to do comparative studies starting in September when typical traffic resumes after the summer.
The bollards, which include a speed limit sign, will stay in place until November, removed for the winter, and then put back in place so town staff can continue studying their effectiveness.
“At the end of the day, they’re going to slow down for that little section, and they’re going to carry on with their bad habits. I don’t know what the solution is,” added Coun. Mark Contois.
“The stop sign is a stop sign, it’s not a yield. People don’t stop at a stop sign anymore — it’s crazy, especially in school zones. I don’t know how we stop it unless a police officer is standing there constantly issuing tickets.”
