Raise the Hammer

I attended the meeting and was not surprised that a few car lovers felt the bike lanes and lower speed limit would cramp their accustomed driving habit. They are the very speeders who race through east west streets to get to work, using them as their personal super highway! The reality is that these streets, especially Charlton, are mostly residential, have schools, daycare facilities, churches, seniors' homes and facilities for the disabled. The number of buses, trucks and autos has increased over the years and so have the speeds. The noise and rough road surface also contribute to a very "uncalm" setting for adult residents and their families. Recently the repaving of a few sections of road has made a huge difference in the vibrations felt in homes whenever a truck or bus zooms by. The lower 40km speed limit does make some difference too but there are still drivers who speed, so will it ever be enforced? Hopefully the bike lanes will help calm traffic even more and serve as a buffer to the traffic noise for North side residents who cannot park on their side anymore. The parking side rarely gets swept, tickets are handed out if a car is parked on the day reserved for sweeping. This would be fair if residents were informed of a set day per month when sweeping took place but as far as I know, there is no longer a set day as there is for many sidestreets nearer to downtown. In that case, the residents know their cars must not be parked on a certain side BUT they can be parked on the opposite side. On Charlton the residents have no option to park on the opposite side, the North side which will soon have bike lanes installed. All in all, the residents I have spoken to think the recent changes will be an improvement over the status quo. I too am optimistic especially with bike lane installations coming soon!

It's hard to please everyone but pedestrians and home owners should not feel unsafe walking on sidewalks along sidestreets or simply doing maintenance, sweeping walkways etc. in front of their homes. The excessive speeding has become chronic and now at least there are some attempts to lessen the problem. Over the years many drivers have come to know that they can get away with speeding on the side streets but now residents are protesting and thankfully the City is listening. In Toronto, drivers have tried to use sidestreets as shortcuts and there was a huge reaction by residents. The City took action and the calming was restored. Let's hope the beautiful east west streets in Hamilton are preserved as more safe, quiet, clean and pedestrian friendly.