EDITOR – I read this week’s Highway Mail (9 September) Letters to the Editor regarding speeding fines with some amazement.
I use that road frequently and always keep my speed below 80 km/h. A number of cars race past me during the journey, my thoughts are that these drivers have either joined the M13 after the first camera or are going to take an off-ramp prior to reaching the second camera.
Recently, our ratepayers association had, as its speaker, a gentleman from the provincial roads department who gave us some startling figures regarding traffic volumes there. The M13 carries about 26 000 cars a day versus the N3’s 21 000 and only 12 per cent of these exit the M13, implying that most of the traffic using the M13 is local traffic and not toll avoidance.
Since the installation of the cameras, the number of vehicles speeding has been reduced by 60 per cent. Good news is that a design for an upgrade of the M13 is in progress. The plans are to add an extra lane on the east bound carriageway, to erect a concrete barrier in the center and extend the Pioneer Road on-ramp.
Alan Smaldon
Gillitts
