Motorists rally against Route 90 construction-zone speeding tickets

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This article was published 06/08/2019 (2489 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Motorists are warning anyone who has received “mortgage-payment-sized fines” after driving into the city on Brookside Boulevard just north of Inkster to take their tickets to court or demand refunds if they’ve already paid.

Wise Up Winnipeg organized a rally Tuesday to call attention to a southbound strip on Route 90 north of Inkster Boulevard, where the group alleges drivers have been unfairly ticketed since the beginning of the summer. 

About 40 people lined the stretch of road to protest fines the anti-photo radar group said were handed out to people “driving at a prudent speed through a wide open, unobstructed, non-construction zone.” They held up their tickets and picket signs that read, “fake DCZ (designated construction zone)” and waved at passersby on the route, who honked in solidarity. 

The designated construction zone speed reduction went into effect earlier in the summer.

But Todd Dube, founder of the traffic safety and anti-photo radar group, said the zone should never have been designated a construction zone and wasn’t properly marked as one.

“You see nothing but an enforcement vehicle, designed, by the way, to look like a construction vehicle. It is the most unfair, dirty scenario that you could come up with and no other city would do this to their public,” Dube said.

“And with fines — with mortgage-payment-sized fines — which are three times higher than the average of all other provinces, it’s outrageous and it ends now.”

Dube alleges there was never any construction taking place and when motorists complained about tickets they received while driving through an unobstructed zone, the city pulled the strip’s designation.

The City of Winnipeg’s online road construction map did not indicate a project in progress on the stretch Tuesday or one having been completed.

While the roadway itself is within city limits, city spokesperson Julie Dooley said the construction work was undertaken by the RM of Rosser. 

However, it is the city’s responsibility to place signage. And it did so, Dooley said, on June 24 and later removed signs on Aug. 2, “as per the original DCZ agreement.” 

Michael James said he plans to take his $809 ticket to court since he didn’t see any signage when he drove through.

James said he set his cruise control to a little under 90 km/h when driving down the stretch, as he thought the speed limit was 90 km/h. In fact, it’s usually 80 km/h. 

When he got a ticket in the mail a week later, he was shocked to find out his budget for his kids’ school and hockey supplies would be tight this year.  

“I used to work in construction, so I’m always conscious,” James said. “I don’t remember seeing anything.” 

Larry Wandowich, chief administrative officer for the RM of Rosser, said the municipality is installing sewer and water pipes in the ditch beside the road. The crews have been using equipment parked on the shoulder, he said, adding the contractor applied to the city to have the stretch designated a DCZ due to safety concerns about fast-moving  traffic.  

Wise Up Winnipeg’s founder said a handful of ticketed motorists contested them and were successful in getting them dismissed or having the fines reduced.

Manitoba’s Highway Traffic Act defines a designated construction zone as a length of highway under construction or where there is any reconstruction, widening, improvement or repairs in progress.

The act states these zones must be identified by traffic-control devices at the beginning and end of the section.

The speed limit in those zones is established when a sign is placed to inform drivers. The speed limit is in effect throughout the duration of the project, when construction workers and equipment are both on and off site.

Speeding fines — up to $7.70 for each km/h over the speed limit on regular roads — can be doubled in construction zones.

Dube said drivers have received fines as high as $1,000 in the area.

“It’s a total entrapment,” said Glen Zaluski, a truck driver who is often on the road in that location. 

Zaluski received a ticket in the mail with a fine of more than $600. 

“Where’s a cop when you need one?” he said, adding there were signs that were turned away from incoming traffic when he drove down the road last month. 

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie