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Council approves bylaw on two-year trial basis

Adult driving jeep stopped at construction stop sign or school crossing sign.

Toronto Star file photo

Burlington city council passed a bylaw during its Monday (Jan. 23) meeting restricting driving school instruction in certain areas for a two-year trial period.

The bylaw, recommended by staff during a Jan. 9 Committee of the Whole meeting, makes it illegal to conduct driver training within the marked areas bounded by Guelph Line, Industrial Street, Petit Road and the northern border of the hydro corridor.

“It’s not only a reasonable solution, but drivers should practise on a variety of streets and not just learn the test (roads). It’s better for students,” Ward 2 Councillor, and committee of the whole chair, Marianne Meed Ward said during the Jan. 9 meeting.

“I like the gentle approach (of the plan) … and then check what the impact has been after the two-year trial.”

In May 2016, a report was presented to the development and infrastructure committee in response to complaints from residents along certain streets nearby the Ontario Drive Test Centre at 1250 Brant St., unit 2.

The main concern raised by residents, according to the report, was the increased number of vehicles appearing on their streets throughout the day, causing increased traffic and affecting public safety.

After receiving the report, staff was instructed by the committee to return with a bylaw that would restrict driving schools from driving on the approved test routes determined through the Ontario Drive Test Centre.

Being found guilty of the offence comes with a hefty $5,000 maximum fine.

The bylaw will also see the installation of signs in residential areas advising driving instruction is restricted.

There will be a year of education, followed by the implementation of the bylaw for a two-year trial period.

Tony Qureshi, owner of ABC Driving School and a delegate at Monday’s council meeting, commented he wanted more to be done in the implementation of the bylaw, including the installation of signs in neighbourhoods that are part of the provincially-approved test routes — much like the ones posted for high air traffic areas.


Source: InsideHalton.com