An Irricana resident has drafted a petition to address speeding and other traffic violations in town.
Hazel Standen said she has noticed a prevalence of motorists speeding and blowing through stop signs since she moved to Irricana four years ago.
“Really, it’s a bit out of control and I know there are people in town who have said it’s gone on for years and years,” she said. “It’s obviously a continued problem. I have a son and I don’t want anything to happen. I worry, not just for my son, but other children playing or even animals that get out of the house and the yard.”
To bring attention to the issue, Standen started a petition, which she plans to send to the Beiseker RCMP detachment once it has garnered significant community support. The petition is located at the Irricana post office, and had already received an entire page of signatures by May 13.
According to Standen, speeding is a town-wide problem in Irricana, where the speed limit is 30 kilometres an hour (km/h).
“On First Avenue when you head out of town, the speed limit does change to 80 km/h, but I think there are signs on both ends, coming into and out of town, saying it’s 30 km/h,” she said. “There’s also a sign saying [there are] children at play, so it’s not like people haven’t been pre-warned.”
She said the reason why people speed in Irricana is likely an absence of police, adding she has noticed people of all ages speed in town.
“They feel they can get away with it,” she said. “Or, people feel they’re running behind and figure it’s just a stop sign, not a big deal, and if they speed down this road, they’ll get there two minutes sooner. But two minutes can cost you your life, someone else’s life or an animal’s life.”
As far as potential solutions to the problem, Standen said there are a few options, such as installing speed cameras or portable speed bumps that could be removed for municipal operations, such as snow removal.
She added the ideal solution would be to have more RCMP officers patrolling the town, though she acknowledged that might not be financially feasible.
“I did speak to an RCMP officer…and I asked him [about speeding] and what can be done about it,” she said. “He told me they only have four officers who patrol our area and due to COVID, they’re not doing as many traffic stops as they perhaps were in the past.”
Cpl. Leif Svendsen, the detachment supervisor for Beiseker RCMP, said he is aware of the problem of speeding in Irricana. At the May 3 Irricana Town council meeting, during his quarterly update to council, he said officers will soon be conducting a local speeding blitz at certain areas in town.
He said he appreciates when residents bring their policing concerns and possible solutions to RCMP.
“I’d have to talk to the [chief administrative officer] and council about the speed bumps – obviously, research would have to be done on that,” he said.
“If the community leaders thought speed bumps would be a good way to reduce speeds in town, they’d have to consider that as part of their Road Safety Mandate locally. But anything that can prevent the speed limit from being breached is worth consideration.”
He added Beiseker RCMP actually has more officers patrolling Irricana than the detachment used to, thanks to a pilot project that has integrated Beiseker’s service area with Airdrie Rural RCMP in the last six months. According to Svendsen, there are always four members on duty and Beiseker RCMP has transitioned to a 24/7 policing model.
“If people want to bring this to our attention, we’re more than happy to come out, pay attention to those areas of concern and try to eliminate those points of risk,” he said.
“It’s all a concern to us and we have the additional resources now to do some more targeted enforcement, which is what we want to do, if that pleases the community.”
In addition to sending the petition to RCMP, Standen said she is also considering approaching Town council about the issue in the future.
“I do appreciate the RCMP and everything they do, but I think it does need to be addressed a little bit more, especially if it’s been an ongoing problem for multiple years,” she said.
Representatives from the Town of Irricana did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
