Motorists may have noticed a little something different in areas of Whitecourt over the past week or so. It’s something that the town and local police hope will slow down traffic in such areas as school zones.

Mark Ladan
Editor
Wednesday September 13, 2006

This electronic sign, equipped with a radar gun, shows motorists how fast they are traveling. It was set up in school zones last week.
Mark Ladan photo
Motorists may have noticed a little something different in areas of Whitecourt over the past week or so. It’s something that the town and local police hope will slow down traffic in such areas as school zones.
The town recently took possession of a mobile radar speed sign, which is part of the Whitecourt Safe Street Initiative. The cost of sign was about $21,000 - $10,000 of which came from the Alberta Traffic Safety Foundation.
The sign is equipped with a radar gun similar to those used by the RCMP and has a four-by-four-foot electronic display to alert motorists of their speed as they drive by. In addition to school zones the sign will be used in construction zones and on streets in town where there have been complaints made by residents and business owners about excessive speed by drivers.

There’s one simple reason why the town made the purchase, according to Mayor Trevor Thain.
"So that we can demonstrate to the people of Whitecourt just how fast they are going and hopefully it’ll slow people down in certain areas of the community where we seem to have some problems," he said.
The town’s Family and Community Support Services youth worker, Sharon Shannon said Highway 43 – in the 70 kilometre per hour zone – will also be targeted.
"There’s also a lot of traffic on our highway too, that runs through town and I think it’s really important for motorists travelling through our community to realize that we care about our community and we want people to slow down.

http://www.whitecourtstar.com/story.php?id=253642