Giant speed limit signs installed on Linc, Red Hill

The city is installing oversized speed limit signs on the Linc and the Red Hill Valley Parkwayin an effort to improve safety and get motorists to slow down on two of Hamilton's busiest roadways.

"They're probably the largest you can manufacture," said David Ferguson, superintendent of traffic engineering.

Dozens of the signs will be affixed to poles on the two roadways by next week.

The move comes as a recommendation from a safety review study for the RHVP and the Linc, which was conducted back in 2015 after two 19-year-olds died in a crash on the Red Hill that May.

"There were a number of recommendations in that report, and this is one of the short-term options," Ferguson said.

In that review,city stafffound that more than 500 vehicles per day drive faster than 140 km/h on the Red Hill Valley Parkway, when the roads are designed for no more than 110 km/h.

Suggestions for the Red Hill in the report include speed feedback signs, rain-activated flashing beacons, and a $2.5-million high-tension cable guide rail. It also recommends $810,000 for "continuous illumination" as a long-term goal.

As for the Linc, the report suggests a $5,569,000 high-tension steel cable median barrier system and $105,000 for shoulder rumble strips.

Though the city has seen several stunt driving charges laid on its roadways this year, Ferguson says these signs aren't a direct response to those incidents.

"We're just trying to bring speeds down to a safer level."