Ward 3 Candidates on Traffic and Safety

Scott Fitzgerald

Neighborhood traffic speed is one of the most talked about issues when speaking with residents in Ward 3. The first thing I would like to see is school zones all given their own priority and traffic calmed with the solution that best fits the situation. You can’t put speed bumps on a four-lane road like Topsail Rd, but traffic cameras, for example, would work wonders I’m sure. In short, school zones should be taken out of the traffic calming application process as it currently stands and given their own priority. With 7 schools in Ward 3 (including 5 primary/elementary schools) it’s not hard to see why this is such a major concern. If you gave the school zones the proper levels of traffic calming and reduced speeds in sub-divisions and neighborhood streets to 30k/hr, it would help the speed issue immensely.

Walter Harding

This is my fourth attempt at being honoured with occupying our Ward 3 seat on council. Speeding, irresponsible operators of motor vehicles, excessively loud motorcycles , cars and trucks and pedestrian safety was first brought up by me in 2013.
My 40 year career has included a lot of driving all across this island and while driving habits have eroded all over the island I find it’s worse here in St Johns and surrounding areas. Neighbouring municipalities have been much quicker at making their presence known in their communities and in 2013 I drew attention to the changing landscape when it came to the rapid increase in irresponsible, distracted and inconsiderate operators of motor vehicles in our west end and entire city.
I felt it was time for us as the capital city to implement our own 3 or 4 vehicle municipal traffic enforcement program. While the response was positive and supportive the program did not come to fruition so in 2017 and 2021 I once again suggested we look to address what was now an exponentially worse situation than in 2013. Again, I received support for this idea but as I did not get elected it did not come to pass. Clearly in 2024 this situation has gotten completely out of control.
We have a high percentage of operators of motor driving in an extremely dangerous manner, completely ignoring the rules of the road and driving distracted and with little to no regard for anyone else including pedestrians. It’s utterly ridiculous. Cellular phone use while driving is now an absolute nightmare with, I would estimate, with 70 percent of people driving with a cellular phone in their hands and regularly driving without any clue of where they are on the road and completely unaware of their surroundings. Pedestrians are at greater risk of being struck by a distracted driver more than at any other time in our history and pedestrians must also take precautions and more responsibility for their own personal safety and wellbeing. They as well are far too often distracted while in the middle of a crosswalk with their cellular phones buried in their face and have no idea how dangerous a situation they have placed themselves in. When on a crosswalk they must not be on their phone or having music blaring in their ears. Pay attention to the vehicles around you because most motorists are completely oblivious to your existence. We need to educate new drivers on the importance of never using a cellular phone while driving and lead by example.
We need to install more electronic speed indicators to flash in the drivers face to remind them of their speed and to slow down. We need to increase the fines for being caught driving while distracted with a longer impound period for the vehicle and perhaps even a confiscation of the cellular phone for 90 days. Drive while using your smartphone and lose that smartphone for 3 months. We need to partake in visits to area schools of all levels to encourage our young people to speak up if someone is using a cellular phone while driving them around. They should be encouraged to speak up and say “ could you please put your phone away while I’m under your care as my safety is much more important than your social media likes and comments.”
This would go a long way to help lower the number of people who are not following our rules of the road. We do need speed cameras. Yes. We do require speed bumps in some areas. Yes. We need more enforcement. Yes. We do require cameras at red lights to catch people using their phones while stopped at an intersection. Absolutely. And we need the visual deterrent that is a municipal enforcement officer patrolling our streets. Our vehicles patrolling our streets providing a service and keeping ticket revenue within our city. We can attack this irresponsible behaviour by so many motorists – we can fix it. We simply need a multi pronged approach, more education for our new drivers, a penalty and fine system that is so robust even the thought of someone picking up their phone has them seeing their bank balance drop and we need to make certain our young people aren’t afraid to teach the adults to do the right thing. The other way hasn’t worked with more and more adults acting in such an entitled and irresponsible manner that it has put our children, our pedestrians and other motorists at a level of risk that is unacceptable, inconsiderate and completely avoidable.

Mark House

Traffic concerns are among the most frequent issues I hear about in Ward 3, particularly on streets like Waterford Bridge Road and Craigmillar Avenue. Traffic calming measures should be more readily available, and we need to explore solutions that keep our roads safe without pushing the problem onto neighboring streets. I would advocate for traffic cameras where appropriate and ensure we’re using our traffic calming budget as effectively as possible, consulting with residents to find balanced solutions that improve safety without sacrificing convenience.

Paul Morgan

● A major issue in our city is traffic and the safety issues it presents, residents have certainly stressed this point
● I would like to see reduced speeds on side streets especially in areas with only one sidewalk
● Solar digital speed signs showing speed and when to slow down are very effective in reducing driving speeds
● Elevated crosswalks with flashing lights
● Proper signage and not residents putting up their own signs is a must
● Perhaps putting up more 3 and 4 way stops in residential areas certainly aids in controlling speeds.
● Better enforcement because we can have all the rules and regulations we want but if it’s not enforced then it is a mute point

Greg Noseworthy

[To Come]