Hamilton police presence on the Red Hill to continue into spring 2020

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Published November 14, 2019 at 2:43 pm

Motorists on the Red Hill Valley Parkway can expect to see a continued police presence, at least for a few more months.

Motorists on the Red Hill Valley Parkway can expect to see a continued police presence, at least for a few more months.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, an amendment to a motion to extend the increased enforcement along the stretch of the highway from Mud Street to Barton Street was passed and Hamilton Police will be out in force on the RHVP well into the new year.

The enforcement initiative was extended in June until Dec. 31. Wednesday’s amendment was to the original extension motion.

The amendment asks that the enforcement “be further extended for a period of 18 weeks; effective January 1, 2020, until April 30, 2020, to be funded in the amount of $175,000 from the Red Light Camera Reserve.”

The enforcement initiative, which was started earlier this year around the same time that the speed limit on the roadway was lowered, was part of a broader endeavour to improve safety.

Since 2012, there have been seven fatalities on the Red Hill. Earlier this year, a report from 2013, carried out by Tradewind Scientific, on the friction of the Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP) surface that indicated the asphalt on “nearly all areas of the [RHVP] have friction values below or well below” the recommended level.

The report prompted the city to immediately lower the speed limit on the expressway to 80 km/h, increase police presence and to expedite the resurfacing of the roadway, which was completed this past summer.

Since the repaving and new signage has been installed and the speed limit has been lowered, there have been no fatalities, an October police services board meeting heard, and the number of injuries have been drastically reduced.

At Wednesday’s meeting, councillors were told that the police enforcement initiative has basically paid for itself and extending the program will have ‘zero net levy impact.’

Photo courtesy Perry Quan via Flickr.

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