BID's O'Handley not surprised with result

Barry O’Handley remains a strong proponent of reduced speed limits on Fourth Street through downtown Estevan, even if Estevan city council has opted not to change the limits. 

But he’s not likely going to press the speed limit issue any further. 

O’Handley is the president of the local business improvement district (BID), the committee that initially lobbied to have the speed limits in the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Fourth Street reduced from 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) to 30 km/h.

The BID motion was backed by the Estevan board of police commissioners and the local traffic control committee, and was taken to council for consideration early in the year. But council decided at their Feb. 29 meeting to abandon the speed limit proposal amid significant public outcry in late January and throughout February.

Council’s decision wasn’t a surprise to O’Handley. But he still believes the speed limits should be 30 km/h through those two blocks.

“If you drive 50 kilometres (per hour) through those blocks, to me it is too fast,” O’Handley told the Mercury. “For those two blocks, the amount of extra time that it takes to go through there at 30 kilometres, compared to 50, is seconds, and I just think the safety of it should have been a priority, for the same reason we slow down in school zones.”

O’Handley drives at a speed lower than 50 kilometres per hour when driving through downtown Estevan, and he will continue to do so. 

He doesn’t believe that the result might have been different if the motion called for a 40 km/h speed limit. He believes the public still would have been vocal in their opposition, and council would have opted for the status quo.

And he didn’t back a 40 km/h speed limit, either. 

“I don’t think the 40 was a good fit because I don’t know if that makes it that much safer,” said O’Handley. “I think the 30 definitely establishes a safety area for that.”

O’Handley expects the issue likely won’t be brought up again for some time. It was brought forward to council, and the motion was eventually abandoned. He won’t be lobbying the traffic committee or the police board again, unless the other members of the BID committee come forward and say they want the speed limit issue to be further pursued.

“As the saying goes, ‘The public has spoken,’ so I’m fine with it,” said O’Handley “It’s just that we were concerned with safety, and we still are.” 

He also continues to advocate for the mid-block crossings in downtown Estevan. O’Handley believes they provide a safe place for people to cross the busy road, and they cut down on jaywalking.