Speeding along Hwy. 60, particularly heading eastbound on the way to Dwight, has been an ongoing issue and Lake of Bays councillors and OPP representatives are hoping to slow things down with a change to the posted speed limit.
Lake of Bays Mayor Terry Glover said the issue had been brought to the attention of the municipality by shopkeepers in the village of Dwight.
He said the business owners expressed concern for the safety of everyone who uses the road and also noted that slowing down traffic will give motorists an opportunity to see what Dwight has to offer.
Glover said the issue was discussed with Huntsville/Lake of Bays OPP detachment commander John-Paul Graham who suggested a transition. He said a recommendation was made to post a decrease in speed from 80km/h to 70km/h before reaching the 60km/h speed limit once motorists enter Dwight’s core.
The transition will better prepare motorists to decrease their speed from 80 to 60 km/h, said Glover at the September 14 meeting of council.
“I think it’s a great first step and hopefully this resolves the situation,” said Glover. “I’ve got numerous reports of people flying through the village of Dwight … We want to protect our public, our tourists – slow down, enjoy the village of Dwight, have a look around.”
Lake of Bays Councillor Nancy Tapley noted that it has been an ongoing issue and she concurred with the action proposed, calling the idea “an excellent first step.”
Councillor Rick Brooks noted that the speed limit is already posted at 70km/h when going westbound from the Township office to Dwight’s core and wondered whether that had had an impact on speeders.
Glover said he wasn’t sure. He said speeding is an issue in many areas of the municipality but said he’s not sure whether it impacts some parts of Hwy. 60 more than others. “As I understand it, the OPP have told me this gives them better tools to start to implement corrections and education…,” he said and noted other options could be considered in future.
In the end, council passed a resolution asking the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to decrease the speeds from 80 to 70 km/h starting in the vicinity of the Dwight Village Motel in order to give motorists an opportunity to bring their speed down to 60 km/h before they enter the village core.
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Kelly Zytaruk…..The north is littered with small communities decimated by “bypasses”…….Have you been to Trout Creek (or South River or Sundridge) recently???? Is this what you want for Dwight or Dorset or Lake of Bays?…..all at the millions of dollars of taxpayer expenditure…….so that the driver can save 2 or 3 minutes? This makes no sense. Just enforce the law.
Reducing speed limits on a major thoroughfare is not the answer.
I agree with Catherine when she says “No excuse for speeding through villages and small towns,…”
The best solution in my opinion is to provide a highway bypass around small towns and villages and be done with it!
Remember back a bit.
In the 70’s they were debating setting the speed limit to 70 MILES per hour on highways like #60.
It was “normal” to be able to go from Dwight (the Dorset side, a bit out highway 35) to downtown Huntsville in about 15 minutes back then.
Sure, I think that today, with all the extra entry points, this would be too high a speed limit, but think on this.
Today, with cars that easily go faster than those of the 70’s it now takes at least a half hour to make this same trip. Multiple stop lights are now to be negotiated too and those two at Grandview and Canal road are amongst the worst set up stoplights I have found anywhere on Earth. You can tell this by the layers of rubber deposited on the road as you approach them.
Of course about the time one reaches the 4 lane section near Huntsville, they drop the speed limit. Most drivers, unfamiliar with the area, do not expect this. They sort of figure (I think) that a bigger road equals a bigger speed limit, much to their dismay when the OPP tell them otherwise as they write the tickets out.
You may also remember that just a few years back there was a big fancy study by the MTO regarding the route for highway 60 at Dwight. Why? Well they were (or so they said then) going to make Highway 60 4 lanes all the way to the junction with 35.
Now if the merchants in Dwight think they have a speed and congestion issue now, just wait till they put 4 lanes past Ericas place!! When they do this you might as well just close all the shops in that area of Dwight as nobody will have any place to park and turning and crossing the road will be pretty close to lethal on a busy day.
I suggested at the time of the study that bypassing Dwight, sort of like they did at Dorset many years ago, would be the best way to do things. That way the local traffic going to the stores in Dwight could chug along at 40 km/hr and there could be sidewalks, trees, benches and parking on both sides of the road. Heck they could even do some festivals and sort of hippy street dances as it would be feasible to close the local road for things like this. I’m willing to bet that business in Dwight would see an increase in business if this was done but of course I’m not a traffic expert.
The MTO representative told me at the time of the study that it “would be quite impossible to bypass Dwight due to the necessary crossing of the creeks. Well strangely, they had no trouble crossing the creeks in at least three places already and they will need to double all these bridges to go to 4 lanes. This seems to be no issue, but cutting a few trees and putting in a couple of large culverts to take the road around Dwight seems an insurmountable problem to them. Getting 4 lanes, possibly a 5th turning lane and shoulders into the middle of Dwight, with stores on one side and a few shops plus the Bell building and a small mountain on the other side… that seems to be no problem for MTO. Makes you wonder.
The point I wish to make is that modern cars are quiet and quick. People do not want to drive along what appears to them to be an open country road at 60 km / hr.
If we all just actually did the speed limits of 80 km / hr and 70, 60 as currently posted everything works pretty well.
If, instead of the massive cost for 4 lanes, they just added a third lane on the big hills to the West of Dwight as a passing lane so one could get past heavy trucks and campers that is probably all we need.
Maybe Council should be talking to MTO about some more creative ideas other than just shut down the speed limits. There are lots of options to look at before we get the speed limits down to that of a donkey cart or rickshaw and that seems where we are headed.
Actually, this is a great idea, overdue! I’ve often been really worried about people rear ending me as I attempted to turn into businesses along the road from the motel to the trading post. It makes sense as the other side of Dwight is already 70 past the 35 exit. No excuse for speeding through villages and small towns, although it happens all over Ontario.
Just as a follow up on the issues of Dwight, its not fair to the businesses for anyone to suggest this is a ploy to get cars to stop and shop, but I can tell you those who wish to slow and shop can be harassed by those following them as they are seen as slowing “them” down. Further to that, it is a comercial area, we have pedestrians who try to traverse the road and its challenging at the best of times.
My question in Council regarding the westbound traffic entering Dwight and the reality that hwy.60 goes from 80 KMH as it passes hwy.35 down to 70KPH and then to 60 KPH was rhetorical because not many heed the 70 as it is now and if they do, many are still exceeding 70 as they go through the business district. In my opinion, the 70 KPH sign does not slow enough of them down, its only going make a difference when people start to get hit in the pocketbook.
Like another comment made on this issue, entering Huntsville from the east, I slow to 70 as posted and traffic is flying by me….signage is not a deterent…fines can be…and the presence of a cruiser definitely is.
Reducing the speed to 70 so people will slow down to 60kmh . Well that’s a good one??? People are travelling at high speeds now with lowered speed areas and they don’t give a shit until there’s cops sitting there giving tickets. Try getting the OPP to do their jobs and start enforcing and not just for a couple hours a day once a week. Or maybe set up some photo radar along the highway between huntsville and Algonquin park. Setting the speed limit down hoping people slow down and stop at local businesses is not a good idea. If people want to stop they will but the best way would maybe be a bypass around Dwight for people wanting to avoid the sudden stops when people do see something they may want to stop at.
No real accidents to report that would indicate it is dangerous section of the road. So, really, this is an attempt by business owners to force cars to slow down so that there might be a chance they will stop and go into their store. Shame. Back in the old days, small towns would simply put up a toll gate on the road and be direct about it.
Speeding along Hwy. 60 is not an issue solely confined to the Lake of Bays in the vicinity of Dwight. It is also a serious issue westward entering into the Town of Huntsville.
Vehicle speed is an on-going problem, as drivers fail to heed the posted 70 Kmh limit.
Traffic along Highway 60, already significant in the seasonal period, will likely see increased volume in the future, particularly as residential developments are completed near Fairyview Drive.
This past summer, there was a significant collision in the westbound lanes not far from there (near Allison’s Point), and at least two near misses across from the Huntsville Marina, when vehicles making deliveries back in and sometimes need all four lanes to make their turn and approach.
Perhaps there is an opportunity here for the Lakes of Bays and Huntsville councils to partner, in concert with the OPP, businesses and residents, to seek improvements with the Ministry of Transportation about current and future traffic on this highway before more serious issues or outcomes arise.