Straightforward regular council meeting to end April, right? (Albeit a week earlier than what have been expected.) Not so fast! The agenda was the confirmation of stuff that’s already passed, and the endorsement to create a Canadian Chinese Heritage Month, but there was apparently more to be said about traffic calming, and traffic calming options. What more was there left to say and how did the traffic calming policy change? Read the recap below…
Regular Meeting of Council – April 21, 2026
The regular council meeting this week was mostly about relitigating the Traffic Calming Policy Update. But first, they approved new appointments to the Elliott Community Board of Trustees, confirmed the consent agenda from Committee of the Whole, and they honoured Ward 6 Councillor Katherine Hauser for getting her Osgoode Certificate in Municipal Law and Governance from York University.
Getting into traffic calming, council heard from the vice-chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee and two community members who all had the same message: Speed cushions can hurt if you’re a member of the Guelph community with a disability. Dean Martin (not that one) noted that he and his colleagues on the AAC passed a series of motions including one that said “vertical measures such as speed cushions should not be the default for traffic calming” in the policy. Lorelei Root, former chair of the AAC, added that during her time on the committee they had a similar discussion, and while staff promised to try and use speed cushions as a last resort, it almost always seemed to be the first.
The delegates found allies in Councillors Erin Caton and Christine Billing, with the latter noting her own issues going over cushions due to her chronic pain. Once the delegations were over, Caton moved an amendment to the policy to remove speed cushions, and while there was some support, there was also some concern.
Staff noted that while there are 22 tools in the proverbial toolbox when it comes to traffic calming, speed cushions is the best one presently available to us (the best tool is, of course, automated speed enforcement cameras, which were banned by the provincial government in November). It was for this reason that Councillor Rodrigo Goller said he would vote against the recommendation, and Councillor Ken Yee Chew added that he was hesitant about taking more tools out of the toolboxes. Councillor Dan Gibson said that cushions had been effective in reducing speeds on Starwood Drive, but his wardmate Caton noted that those cushions are rough on people with disabilities, herself included.
Although there was some discussion about softening the language, Mayor Cam Guthrie ultimately ruled that the motion should stand or fall before other options are considered, but the amendment to remove speed cushions passed pretty decisively 8-4.
Next, Goller put forward a motion to direct staff to track the streets that made up the previous queue of areas requesting traffic calming measures and to recommend other measures to achieve Vision Zero goals. Manager of Transportation Engineering Steve Anderson said that they do a road safety update every year regarding the placement of new signs and signals so this work could easily be folded into that initiative. What measures can be enacted though will depend on how much money is left in the budget in any given year. The Goller amendment was approved unanimously.
That brought us back to speed cushions. First Gibson wanted to make sure that the Caton amendment won’t rip out cushions that are already in place, and when he got that confirmation, he asked about the temporary cushions that the City of Guelph installs to stop people from speeding through detours near construction sites. Anderson said that it was staff’s understanding that the amendment meant all speed cushions, even the temporary rubber ones used on detour routes.
As Gibson continued talking about his “grave concerns”, Guthrie interrupted to suggest that council could approve a carve out for the temporary cushions if he was so willing. Gibson said that such a motion would “salvage the credibility” of the decision made in the Caton amendment, but it took several minutes to craft something that council could work with. Then there was a debate as to whether this motion was an amendment to the main motion, or something separate, and it was eventually decided that the this was a matter outside the main policy but still related.
So the amended main motion was approved unanimously, and then the Gibson motion “That the use of temporary speed cushions, when used related to construction detour mitigation, be permitted,” was also approved. Another subsequent motion from Caton directing staff to remove cushions from bike lanes pending budget approval and to review alternative methods to protect cyclists from driver behaviour was approved 11-1.
After that, council affirmed the Business License Appeals Committee decisions from March and endorsed the idea of the federal government creating a Canadian Chinese Heritage Month. Council now takes a week off, but between now and the next meeting, nominations for the 2026 election will open. Stay tuned!
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 