How these Avalon Peninsula communities are slowing down speeders ahead of summer

Several towns across the northeast Avalon Peninsula are strengthening their measures against speeding drivers ahead of the summer months.

Paradise is one of them.

In the province's third-largest municipality, speeding is a common complaint, says Mayor Dan Bobbett.

"We hear regularly from the residents in the neighbourhoods, on the main streets, all over. It's a big issue," Bobbett said.

"We've talked to our neighbouring municipalities and those councils feel the same thing."

That's why in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, new peace officers are patrolling the streets, with the power to ticket speeding or distracted drivers.

Meanwhile, updated policies in St. John's now allow resident petitions to influence decisions on where traffic calming measures are installed and the annual budget for traffic calming has been raised to $200,000.

In Paradise, 257 temporary rubber curbs, at a cost of about $28,000, will help slow down traffic all across the town this summer. Their purchase was agreed upon during a council meeting in mid-April — and it's a tool Bobbett said the town is "quite excited about".

"We can use them anywhere. So, we can lay them down in one neighbourhood for two, three weeks or four weeks, and then move them around to another area," he said.

"It's quite interesting, and because they're so flexible and so easily shaped into whatever we want, then we can form them into roundabouts or triangles or narrowing of lanes."

In addition to the curbs, the town also bought two radar units to collect data, which will then be reviewed and help determine whether the curbs are working or need to be moved elsewhere. If that project proves successful, said Bobbett, permanent curbs can then be installed in high-speed areas.

"Obviously, the permanent solution is more expensive than this temporary solution," he said.

"We know that we are making some inroads, but there's more to be done. And we're going to continue with these rubber curbs to identify the areas where we need those permanent solutions the most."

Bobbett said collaboration with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is invaluable in making sure that the collected data is acted on.