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Barricades have now been installed on the main waterfront parking lots on Lakeshore Boulevard North in Sauble Beach.

A plan to reduce the invasive sand dunes and install a retaining wall along Lakeshore Boulevard North between the Crowd Inn and Kinloss Lane, to increase space for vehicles, has been protested by neighboring Saugeen Nation Ojibway before being drugged by the courts in response to a resident. application for judicial review.

Three judges have ruled that the Gray Sauble Conservation Authority should reconsider its approval of the project, but have not yet rendered their decision to that effect.

The town’s position has remained as the encroachment of the sand dunes forces larger vehicles to advance onto the roadway, creating a safety concern for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians along the busy stretch of road. .

In response to the judges’ decision, the South Bruce Peninsula council ordered staff to lease concrete barriers from Powell Contracting (Richmond Hill) at a cost of approximately $ 26,000, plus HST at its April 20 meeting.

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These barriers were installed Thursday. A footpath remains between the concrete barriers and the sand dunes. Sufficient parking space at the northern end of the project area allowed staff to leave nearly 25 of the 100 parking spaces originally planned to be barricaded open to the public.

Meanwhile, at a special May 11 meeting, councilors voted unanimously to reduce the speed limit on Lakeshore Boulevard North from Main Street to Sauble Falls Road to 30 km / h. The lowered speed limit will be in place from May to September and will revert to 50 km / h during the winter months.

A staff report, citing a traffic study, noted vehicles barely crawled above 30 km / h along Lakeshore Boulevard North as motorists navigated through congestion and parking spots. However, “reducing the speed limit is justified to deal with the potential for sudden obstacles on the road, similar to playgrounds or schools,” the report said.

The staff report also noted that the lowered speed limit can be seen as a “nuisance” during the off-season when there are fewer obstacles to efficient travel.

South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson said a traffic survey found 4,000 cars had passed through the busy city area in a 24-hour period.

“Four thousand cars driving through an area where thousands of tourists walk on a busy weekend has been a source of great concern,” Jackson said in an email.

The decision to install barriers met opposition from some residents as well as the Sauble Beach Chamber of Commerce.

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Appearing as a delegation to council at its May 4 regular meeting, chamber members Ryan Gardhouse and Ron Howard pleaded with council to rethink the barricades. They argued that the barricades could make the situation less safe for beach goers who will now be forced to park further away, and that the barricades could cause drivers to believe that pedestrians will not appear on the roadway and will drive. therefore faster along the section.

Gardhouse, which owns and operates BeaverTails and Ascent Aerial Park in Sauble Beach and is opening three new restaurants in the area, said the chamber of commerce should have been consulted in the decision as it would affect several business owners.

The chamber suggested that a parallel parking could be used in the area.

The city staff report indicated that while most of the available shoulder space along Lakeshore Boulevard North would allow for typical parallel parking needs, it would not necessarily provide an “alleyway”. safe and adequate pedestrian ”. Using comparable data from other municipalities, staff suggested that the space available in a parallel parking configuration would leave pedestrians and cyclists vulnerable and subject to possible “gates,” in which a car door is. unintentionally opened in the lane of an oncoming cyclist or pedestrian, which constitutes an offense and a fine under the Highway Traffic Act because it has “serious consequences”.

Other options explored by staff included creating a ‘couplet’ with Second Avenue and transforming Lakeshore Boulevard North into a one-way street, a change that could not have happened without the involvement of the Department of Education. Environment, Conservation and Parks and Environmental Assessment because it represents a significant change in level of service, staff said.

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Staff also explored the narrowing of the two lanes of traffic on Lakeshore Boulevard North, but decided that space restrictions and traffic data suggested there would be little additional benefit.

Staff estimate that reducing the speed limit to 30 km / h along the stretch of road would cost $ 3,000 for 45 new speed limit signs to a limit of $ 7,500 with no-parking signage included.

Jackson said the city is in a “waiting pattern” as they wait for judges to render their reasoning for the decision to withdraw the project permit, which is expected to come by the end of June.

“It is imperative that we maintain an appropriate parking depth, as we have done every spring for years. If we can’t do this job, we can’t park cars in that area anymore, ”Jackson said. “Our staff estimate that if we cannot complete this job, we will completely lose the shoulder of the road within 10 years due to continued encroachment.