Hudson residents, officials call on drivers to stop speeding

There are several bright, yellow signs in the Town of Hudson calling on drivers to "Please slow down" to 40 km/h.

They weren't put up by town officials. It was Hudson resident Tina Adams who installed them, and she says she's disappointed they're not working.

"It's not stopping the speeders because I still see cars driving really fast down the street."

Adams, 23, was critically injured three years ago when she was hit by an impaired driver who was also speeding. It happened one evening while she was out jogging in front of her family home on Cambridge Street.

The collision left her with severe injuries, including a fractured skull, spine, pelvis and a traumatic brain injury.

She has since had 19 surgeries and still uses crutches to walk.

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Adams says she's like to see town officials do more to crack down on dangerous drivers, especially on her street, which has a golf course nearby.

"They had put these traffic posts and, because there's construction and houses being built, within the next 48 hours those traffic posts were completely down, and within a week they removed all of them," Adams said.

"They should be having at least maybe a radar, speed bumps."

Town officials say they've already installed some speed bumps, but drivers are still going too fast.

For example, there are two speed bumps on Bellevue Street, but 18 speeding tickets were still issued in the month of June alone.

That's why Husdon Mayor Jamie Nicholls says new measures are in the works to boost pedestrian safety.

At August's council meeting, officials will be getting "package of interventions, both signage and traffic-calming measures...put together by our director of Public Security."

Nicholls says that besides speed bumps and new signage, other new measures include narrower streets and wider sidewalks.

"Right now, the situation is that if we have an elderly person using a walker and a baby carriage going by, one of them has to leave the sidewalk and obviously that's not a safe situation. So we want to revamp the pedestrian infrastructure," Nicholls said.

He added that residents will start to notice new road features, such as signs or speed bumps in the coming months, with more long-term plans on the way.

"It's a beginning, so obviously we wouldn't stop at just putting up signs and traffic-calming measures. We actually have to have a design of the town that reflects the vision of a pedestrian-oriented development."