The Estevan Traffic Committee has been resurrected, and it won't be working at cross purposes to the Estevan Board of Police Commissioners, according to a member who serves on both committees.
Estevan councillor Kevin Smith is that person on both committees, and he sees them as being compatible, not combustible.
"The traffic committee will be able to be more focused on specific traffic issues while the police board has to address a wide range of issues with traffic being just one part," said Smith.
The local traffic committee had not been active in Estevan for at least two years, possibly three, said Smith, who has now attended two of their monthly meetings.
"Traffic isn't always the focus of the police board, but it is at the traffic committee table," he said, referring to the newly formed council-approved sub-committee that has Pam Currie as its chairwoman.
One of the first orders of business for the traffic team was to provide recommendations that school zone speed limits be properly signed and designated in the city with follow-up enforcement by Estevan Police Service personnel. Smith added there are other traffic issues in front of some schools where school buses stop for passenger pick-up and drop offs. Some have safer spaces than others to perform those chores, he said.
He said the recommendations from the traffic committee will be forwarded to the local police board and then on to city council for approval. There could be a few exceptions, but that will be the normal flow of information and requests.
There are civic employees on the traffic committee, too, which gives them a direct link to those who can speak with some knowledge and authority on civic matters.
Invoking the new speed limits in the city is something that needs to be done soon, Smith suggested, including the desire to reduce the speed limits in certain areas of the city to 40 km/h. The process to make the changes has begun, but he expects that the committee will be able to get the right information and recommendations to the council table more effectively and speedily.
The traffic committee will also look at traditional as well as emerging trouble spots in terms of speeding, such as Wellock Road and Nicholson Road where there are no designated cross walks for youngsters attending schools in that area, as well as no traffic light controls and no sidewalks. The committee will be studying that scenario in detail, especially due to the fact that area of the city is rapidly developing with a second residential subdivision.
"While the police board will be having to look at other items, such as drug dealers and thefts, the traffic committee will be constantly visiting traffic concerns and traffic bylaw enforcement. Tickets for violations have gone up about 150 per cent and as these problems get addressed, it's getting better. The public is taking responsibility as well. They're not letting the offenders go," Smith said. "The police are doing what they can do with three cruisers, but obviously they can't be everywhere. But, with our citizens taking some responsibility and understanding that it's a privilege to drive, not a right, we're tackling the drivers who have bad habits, and we've found out recently there are quite a few people taking driving exams and failing them. So, we do have a lot of bad drivers," he said, even among those who may have been able to pass the tests, but still resort to bad habits once they get ownership of an operator's licence.
This standing committee of council has already issued its first recommendation for council regarding school zone signage, and Smith said he and the others look forward to making a positive contribution to the city and the safety of its citizens.
