The goal is to keep the noise down and roads safe. The group H20i has been posting online about plans for a car rally this Saturday and Sunday in Grand Bend.
“This is an unsanctioned event. We’re not looking to have this come to our community,” Lambton Shores Mayor Doug Cook told .
Cook said he was tipped off about the rally by another resort community that’s had issues with car rallies, Wasaga Beach, “Probably about two weeks ago is when I was first contacted by the deputy mayor from Wasaga Beach to let us know, because they saw it on their posting first. Then we followed it on social media after that.”
Lambton Shores officials and the OPP are taking steps to make sure the cars can’t even make it into town, let alone onto the main strip. And one of those steps is very large speed bumps.
They’ll be in place on the roads along all three Grand Bend entrance points and are very unfriendly to the low-to-the-ground ‘tuner’ cars.
Cook said they should be very effective, “Even though they’re temporary. We’ve got the largest speed bumps that we can get legally to put on the highway just for that reason.”
Lambton Shores Mayor Doug Cook, seen on Sept. 26, 2024, says steps are being taken to limit the impact of a planned car rally this weekend. (Gerry Dewan/ London)
Const. Jeanine Robertson said the Lambton OPP will have increased presence in and around Grand Bend for the weekend, “Officers will be focusing on dangerous driving, illegally modified vehicles as per our current traffic campaign, which is actually drive smart. Keep it safe.”
One H20i Instagram post encourages drivers to gather at the Grand Bend Towne Centre Plaza at 7 p.m. Friday.
Mayor Cook said the community is working with business owners to help restrict access to private lots and road closed signs have already been deployed in various locations and are ready to be put in place.
According to Cook, “We welcome people to come to our community. The weather’s beautiful. We want to come enjoy the beach, the shops, whatever the businesses offer you. But we’re not looking for this at all.”
