Although the community northwest of Meadow Lake is named Rapid View, that doesn’t mean motorists passing though on Highway 55 should have a rapid view of their surroundings. Recently, RM of Meadow Lake chief administrative officer Richard Levesque reached out to Northern Pride to express concerns not only the RM, but ratepayers alike, have about vehicles speeding through Rapid View in spite of a reduced speed limit within the community’s boundaries. “We installed SGI speed signs last year, but they seem to have little effect on some of the traffic,” Levesque said. “Other than that, the highway itself is under the control of the provincial Ministry of Highways and enforcement is under the jurisdiction of the RCMP. The RM currently has no trained bylaw enforcement officers to enforce radar.” According to S/Sgt. Carl Dinsdale, Meadow Lake RCMP detachment commander, the police are well aware of how much of an issue speeding is in Rapid View.

“The Meadow Lake RCMP has been made aware of the concerns about excessive traffic speed through the reduced speed zone in Rapid View,” Dinsdale said. “The Meadow Lake detachment and the Meadow Lake Traffic Services Unit have been targeting the area with direct enforcement for the past month, and will continue to do so moving into the spring. Traffic Services is working on conducting a traffic study of the area this spring and summer, hoping to identify traffic speed trends that will allow our enforcement to be more targeted and effective. We are also working with the RM of Meadow Lake to try to identify some more consistent ways to address this issue and will continue to do so moving forward.” Dinsdale went on to note some of the concerns brought to the attention of the RCMP specifically regard commercial truck traffic through the area associated to local industries.

“We are hopeful, if those same citizens raise their concerns with those local industries, they will take steps to ensure drivers connected to their industry will be encouraged to be aware of, and obey, all traffic safety laws on the roads and highways they are operating on,” he added. “The specific concerns about the reduced speed zone in Rapid View are especially important, as it is in relation to the presence of a school and recreation facilities along that stretch of roadway. This results in an increased amount of vehicle and pedestrian traffic using those facilities, thereby necessitating a reduced speed to ensure the safety of the children and public using them. Reduced speed limits in school zones have been shown to significantly improve safety, with studies indicating substantial reductions in both speeding and collisions, including a decrease in fatal and injury collisions.”

The school Dinsdale referred to is Green Acre School. However, according to Duane Hauk, director of education with the Northwest School Division, speeding has not been a major problem brought to his attention in recent years. “We have not received concerns regarding this issue for the past couple of years,” Hauk said. “A speed zone sign is now on the highway.”