Motion to explore street racing solutions defeated at committee

Calgary street racers seem to be making a habit of turning several roads in the northeast into drag strips, and one councillor is attempting to find some solutions.

During a committee meeting on Tuesday at Calgary City Hall, Ward 10 Councillor Andre Chabot presented a motion that attempted to find some solutions, including exploring the city building a new drag strip a decade after Race City closed down.

He said the city could also look into closing off a public road in the evening, and using that as a place for street racers to go at it in a safer situation, without putting more people at risk.

In addition, Chabot called on the mayor to write a letter to the provincial government in the hopes they could use photo radar to at least ticket speeders after changes were announced to the photo radar program which limited the use of the technology moving forward.

But after some debate, the motion was defeated. But Chabot wants to bring it forward to the rest of council at a later date with some changes.

Chabot said residents in his ward are scared about the situation, with reports of people using roads such as Rundlehorn Dr. and Temple Dr. as drag strips. Not only is it a safety concern, but it also causes significant noise and disrupts quality of life.

“Not having a facility for gearheads to actually do it, they’re going to do it in an unsanctioned fashion and that’s dangerous,” he said.

But before the motion was voted down, several councillors raised concerns with the plan because it may not fully address the wider problem.

“I would be happy to have a discussion separately about residential speeds and some of the changes that are being proposed by the province, and how we work with the province better to better address residential speeds,” said Ward 11 Councillor Kourtney Penner.

“Generally I can see a speeding problem in the city, but not so much a racing challenge,” said Ward 6 Councillor Richard Pootmans. “I would suggest the areas where it is a problem is a relatively small amount.

Chabot said he was disappointed it ended that way, but said he will still push the idea forward and try to identify some more concrete solutions that deal with both street racing and people speeding on roadways overall.