Jason Stockfish, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
The Municipality of Jasper may reduce speed limits to 30 km/h across town in an effort to enhance public and pedestrian safety as well as the visitor experience.
During the committee of the whole meeting on Jan. 25, council members directed administration to draft appropriate amendments to the traffic bylaw to reduce speed limits within municipality boundaries to 30 km/h and return to committee.
Council has discussed the matter numerous times and requested administration to come back with recommendations on a holistic approach to speed limits, rather than a piecemeal one.
鈥淐urrently we have signage that says the speed limit is 50 km/h unless otherwise posted, and administration鈥檚 recommendation is to change that to 30 (km/h),鈥� said Christine Nadon, director of Protective and Legislative Services, during the meeting.
鈥淪o, effectively, everything would change to 30 km/h except for a few areas.鈥�
Nadon explained that the main purpose of lowering the speed limit to 30 km/h inside the town was to provide a safer environment for all, especially cyclists and pedestrians, who benefit the most from such a move.
Parts of Connaught Drive, along with Sleepy Hollow Road and Pyramid Lake Road, would be exempt from the reduced speed limit.
Coun. Scott Wilson voiced his support for the reduction, saying this would accommodate people looking for paid parking and help them find businesses when driving by.
鈥淭his option only benefits our community, and again it also benefits our community and pushes people towards driving safely for other pedestrians and other modes of transportation such as cyclists,鈥� Wilson said.
Mayor Richard Ireland noted how the traffic bylaw dealt with more than just speed limits, and if the committee directed administration to draft amendments, then this was an opportunity to consider other aspects of the bylaw that deal with bicycles in particular.
鈥淚f we are going to slow speeds鈥� I think we can concurrently take steps to make those streets more user friendly for others, and sidewalks as well,鈥� Ireland said.
The mayor went on to voice support for cycling on sidewalks in residential areas in the winter, mentioning how there was so much snowfall this winter that he could not ride his bike safely to work despite the best efforts of Jasper鈥檚 snow clearing crew.
鈥淚 think we could encourage a more pedestrian-friendly community if we took this opportunity to holistically look at how we deal with streets and sidewalks in the community鈥� at least in the winter months,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淩iding on a sidewalk seems safer than subjecting want-to-be bicycle riders to the dangers of riding on slippery, snowy, icy roads.鈥�
Coun. Rico Damota said he appreciated the mayor鈥檚 鈥渙ut of the box thinking鈥� but wondered if further consultation with the community would be necessary if the amendments were to be broadened to that extent.
Wilson also voiced his support for what he called an 鈥渆xcellent idea.鈥�
However, Wilson noted that he was apprehensive to take the discussion in that direction when council was seemingly so close to finalizing a decision on speed limits.
鈥淚 would only fear that it would hang up this very straightforward recommendation to council,鈥� Wilson said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been here before and the more tangled up we get, the more challenging it is to see some change.鈥�
Given said that administration could take up each of these issues as they arise and that bylaws aren鈥檛 set in stone and can be revised when necessary.
Child care
Childcare Services Manager Lisa Daniels presented an opportunity for community partnership with the University of Alberta for developing a childcare strategy.
Daniels explained that the proposal devised in their partnership outlines three goals:
Understand the current situation with Early Learning and Childcare (ELCC) in Jasper
Describe a future state of ELCC in Jasper (council鈥檚 vision and the community鈥檚 vision)
Produce an ELCC strategy for Jasper, specifically how to get from the current state to the future desired state
Daniels stated that the team would do this by first looking at the current processes in other municipalities.
鈥淭he team already works in the area and has some data to pull from,鈥� she said.
鈥淭hen they鈥檙e going to begin gathering the relevant Jasper information. So, (looking at) the current state (of ELCC in Jasper) and what an ideal future for ELCC in Jasper would look like.鈥�
She added that this will be done through surveys, interviews, focus groups, conversations and collection of data gathered in talks with families, educators, administration, local stakeholders and community groups.
While Ireland supported the partnership, he said a couple of steps are missing in the proposal.
The first missing step in Ireland鈥檚 estimation is 鈥渁n examination of the costs of other options.鈥�
鈥淏efore we get to the described ideal outcome, I think it has to be filtered through a cost scenario, and that seems to be missing,鈥� Ireland said.
He added that it would be useful to have a recommendation on how to get the desired outcome and further steps that council could take to get there.
Given responded by saying there would be multiple options with their own differing costs.
He added that 鈥渃ouncil鈥檚 job would be to look at the recommendations, and to apply the council and community lenses (to determine) which of these are the most viable for our community, in our context.鈥�
The committee recommended council approve engagement as presented to develop a Jasper ELCC strategy.
