City to consider community safety zone on Atlantis Drive

A new community safety zone could be on the way to a west Orillia residential street.

With an elementary school and park along the street, Councilors Jay Fallis and Jeff Czetwerzuk requested a report from city staff on the possibility of a community safety zone along Atlantis Drive between Clayt Park French and Highway 12.

Community safety zones generally have a speed limit of 40 km/h, in effect seven days a week, and carry higher fines for speeding compared to other zones, and Fallis has previously indicated that it had heard numerous complaints from constituents about excessive speed on both roads.

Councilors recently tried to gain support for community safety zones on two other west Orillia streets, but were unable to gain support from their peers.

“Unlike the previous one, this is actually something that, in conversations with staff, staff had perhaps identified as a potential,” Fallis said at a recent council meeting. “With most of the schools we have in the city, there are community safety zones, so this is intended to accommodate this location as well. »

Fallis and Czetwerzuk gained support from their colleagues for a report to council on the idea, which will also require consultation with Oro-Medonte Township and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO).

“Notre Dame (Catholic school) itself is on a shared road between Orillia and Oro-Medonte. Additionally, because the project is very close to Highway 12, the Department of Transportation also needs to get involved, which is quite a process,” Fallis said.

“I think some of the additional challenges with the shared route and working with MTO kept this proposal from coming to fruition initially. »