Residents in the small community of Banks continue to be concerned about cars speeding through their community.
Nestled on the top of the escarpment a few miles east of Ravenna, Banks is a tiny community on Grey County Road 119. It is a key feeder road that takes traffic through a rural part of The Blue Mountains, down the escarpment, past Scenic Caves to the Blue Mountain Village area.
Historically, the road is rural in nature, but in recent years traffic using the higher status county road has continued to grow and higher speeds have come with that traffic.
A Banks couple, Taras Semkiv and Maryana Prystayko, and other residents in the community, fear that the situation is an accident waiting to happen.
“It’s not the German Autobahn, it’s a residential area. Everybody needs to understand,” said Semkiv. “The issue is the speeding. It’s getting worse. We need to do something. We need to resolve the problem.”
In July, a group of local residents made a presentation to Grey County council asking for the speed limit on 119 in Banks to be reduced to 40 km/hr from the current 70 km/h speed limit through the hamlet. A county spokesman confirmed this week that a follow-up report about the situation will come before county council early in the fall.
“It can be like a take off at the airport,” Prystayko said, of the cars that routinely go by her home.
Ironically, as Prystayko spoke to CollingwoodToday about the issue, a white sports car flew past her home, appearing to be going well over the speed limit.
“We’re not asking to reduce for the sake of reducing. There are kids playing here,” she said.
Prystayko concedes that Banks isn’t the same size as Kimberley or Eugenia – other communities where Grey County has lowered speeds to 40 km/hr for safety reasons.
“I do acknowledge that we’re not Kimberley, but that does not mean a smaller community should be ignored,” she said. “Why not try it? Is that too much to ask?
She stressed that they’re not asking for a lower speed limit on all of County Road 119. They would like to see the limit lowered in the area of Banks - where there are many homes and buses picking up and dropping off children during the school year.
“We’re not asking for 40 km/hr for all of (County Road) 119, just in Banks. That’s all we’re looking for – through the residential area, can we be more reasonable?” she asks.
Semkiv readily shares videos he has recorded of cars zooming past his home at excessive speed. In January, he witnessed a speeding car almost crash into a school bus. The most recent weekend he observed numerous motorcycles and sports cars travelling at high speeds on the road.
He adds that local residents are reluctant to go for walks on the road due to the high speeds and children have expressed fears about playing soccer in a neighbour’s yard that is close to the road.
Semkiv has taken the step of speaking directly with drivers about speeding on the road.
“I’m not a policeman, but if it helps – I will,” he said of his efforts to address the issue with drivers.
Elizabeth Marshall is another local resident in the Banks area, although she disagrees with the suggestion the speed limit should be lowered to 40 km/hr in the community, she says a limit of 50 km/hr through Banks is warranted, as are other safety measures.
“We would also ask that there be signage for agricultural equipment and school bus stops. This is common sense as the county has these signs on Grey Road 31 in Grey Highlands,” Marshall said in an email.
The county, Marshall added, should also consider changing a 60 km/hr zone that is in place on County Road 119 between Ravenna and Banks – a largely rural area with few houses – to a 70 km/hr zone, with the limit being lowered through Banks then rising to 70 km/hr again before being lowered again when the road turns into Scenic Caves road.
“This is what we have been saying for years. The county comes up with some fairly obscure excuses that’s for sure,” she said.
Pat Hoy, Grey County’s director of transportation services, said the county is taking a look at the issue.
In a recent interview, Hoy said the county’s speed limit policy is modelled on the Transportation Association of Canada policy.
“It takes a number of factors into consideration,” he said.
They include: geometry, lane width, roadside hazards, pedestrians using the road, cyclists and the type of pavement surface.
“We do a lot of speed calculations and speed monitoring,” said Hoy. “We’ll be looking at these factors again and will bring back a report.”
Hoy noted that over time traffic patterns and driver behaviour can change on certain roads. He also noted that The Blue Mountains has experienced a lot of growth in recent years.
“It’s worth looking at again,” said Hoy.
