A busy roadway in front of two Blenheim schools will get a road safety assessment after a unanimous vote at council on Monday.
Councillor Anthony Ceccacci put forward the motion for the assessment to be done on Chatham Street South in the area of Blenheim District High School and Harwich-Raleigh Public School at the November 17 council meeting.
Chatham-Kent Director of Engineering Services Marissa Mascaro Amyotte said in their response to the motion that “staff have received resident concerns and requests for traffic calming in this area, however many traffic calming measures are not recommended and/or expected to be effective on main arterial roadways.”
In an interview with CKXS News, Amyotte explained “some of the traditional measures wouldn’t apply here based on the design and function of the road such as speed cushions…So we will be looking at this through the road safety lens to identify other recommendations for the road safety that might include enhancements for designated pedestrian crossings.”
On November 13, the provincial government launched a Road Safety Initiatives Fund (RSIF) to support “increased road safety in school zones and community safety zones without using speed cameras that make life more expensive for drivers and taxpayers.”
In total the Ford government is investing $210 million for the initiative, with $42 million available immediately to fund traffic-calming measures in school zones and community safety zones that previously deployed municipal speed cameras.
According to Amyotte, this particular project would be ineligible for the program because the stretch of Chatham Street South does not currently have speed cameras. However, the Director of Engineering Services said the municipality will be seeking clarification on the eligibility rules.
“We are certainly following up for clarification and advocating that all municipalities should be eligible, not just those that were previously using the speed camera program,” Amyotte said.
“Speeding and road safety is a province-wide issue and remain a key priority for us in the municipality of Chatham-Kent and all municipalities.”
Amyotte expects the completed road safety report will be presented to council in March 2026.
