Latest News

Brandon Sun - ONLINE EDITION

Residential limit of 40 km/h?

City may reduce speed limit to increase safety

By: Bartley Kives

Wednesday, Sep. 12, 2012 at 8:45 AM | Comments: 0

Don't sell your sports car just yet, but Winnipeg could join several other Canadian cities in dropping the residential-street speed limit to 40 kilometres per hour.

City council's public works committee voted Tuesday to give city transportation planners three months to explore the idea of reducing speeds on residential streets -- two-lane roads in residential neighbourhoods -- by 10 km/h.

Also on the city's agenda

Plastic-bag ban: There will be no ban on plastic bags in Winnipeg, as Couns. Dan Vandal (St. Boniface), Brian Mayes (St. Vital), Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) and Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge) voted unanimously to accept a water-and-waste department's recommendation to continue a public-education campaign about reusing bags and reducing waste instead.
Transportation authority: The committee voted unanimously to hold off on approving a potentially $1.25-million study to launch a regional transportation authority that could serve areas outside Winnipeg. Councillors scolded Winnipeg Transit for only publishing the details one day before they committee met.

Such a move would require provincial approval, if the city's public works department determines it's a good idea. Two councillors who do not drive -- Couns. Harvey Smith (Daniel McIntyre) and Ross Eadie (Mynarski) -- raised the idea in a city council motion that automatically wound up before the public works committee.

Their effort gained steam when Dr. Lynne Warda of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority lent the medical profession's weight to the notion of reducing speeds on narrower streets, a move she said would save lives.

Edmonton and Montreal have implemented a 40 km/h residential speed limit, she said. And in U.S. and the U.K., the reduction of residential speed limits has led to a measurable reduction in the severity of injuries resulting from vehicle-pedestrian and vehicle-bicycle collisions, she told the committee Tuesday.

"Whenever you reduce the speed limit, you're going to have an impact on all of those," Warda said following the meeting, describing the reduction as having a small but statistically significant effect.

"It may be only a few kilometres an hour it brings down speed. When you have a posted speed limit of 50, those people are driving 55 to 58. They're not driving 50," she said.

Winnipeg transportation manager Luis Escobar told the committee he agrees there's a difference between the posted speed limit and the speed people actually drive, but reducing the speed limit provides a false sense of security.

He said collisions causing injury in Winnipeg have dropped to approximately 2,100 in 2010 from 3,400 in 2001, even though the overall number of collisions has remained static during that time period.

Nonetheless, Couns. Dan Vandal (St. Boniface), Brian Mayes (St. Vital), Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan) and Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge) voted in favour of studying the idea.

Committee chairman Vandal said he wants to see hard evidence a reduction in residential speed limits will save lives and does not believe this issue ranks high among the city's priorities.

But he agreed it would be relatively inexpensive to implement a residential speed-zone reduction, as all the city would need to do is post signs stating the limit is 40 km/h unless otherwise noted.

A report from the public works department is expected in December.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Rate this
This article has not yet been rated.

We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high. If you thought it was well written, do the same. If it doesn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.

You can also register and/or login to the site and join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Rate it yourself by rolling over the stars and clicking when you reach your desired rating. We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high.

Sort by: Newest to Oldest | Oldest to Newest | Most Popular 0 Comments

You can comment on most stories on brandonsun.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

There are no comments at the moment. Be the first to post a comment below.

Post Your Comment

The Brandon Sun does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. Comments are moderated before publication. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.