Speed limit change requires consensus

If you are confused about the City of Brandon’s plans regarding speed limits in the city, you aren’t alone. Brandon city councillors voted on April 20 to write to Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard, asking for the power to set the city’s own default speed limit. A letter was also sent to Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor, as well as related provincial departments.

Simard and Naylor were apparently surprised by the request. Naylor told the Sun that “We are always happy to work with municipalities, particularly when it’s related to the safety of Manitobans, but municipalities do have the power to change their own bylaws and do not need provincial approval to do so.” Simard’s response was even clearer: “Cities and municipalities have the option to be able to implement speed restrictions as they wish.”

In fact, a report provided to city council by city officials prior to the April 20 meeting acknowledged that reality, saying that “Changing the speed limit is currently within the ability of the City of Brandon to do.” Given that acknowledgment, what was the point of the city requesting legislative powers it already possesses?

The answer may lie in that same report to city council, which says that a Highway Traffic Act regulation requires traffic authorities to affix signage for speeds less than 50 km/h at the point where the speed limit begins and within 200 metres after each intersection within a roadway other than a back lane. Just imagine how many signs would be required under that regulatory requirement if the city’s default speed limit is reduced to 40 km/h, and what all those signs would cost.

City administration has already run the numbers. They estimate it would cost $2.25 million for the purchase and installation of the required signage, and that it would take a two-man crew one and one-half construction seasons to complete the installations. They also warn that having signage at every intersection lowers the effectiveness of those signs, which appears to mean that the more speed limit signs, the lower the speed limit compliance by drivers.

Viewed from that perspective, it is a fair inference that the city contacted Simard and Naylor in the hopes it could convince the province to impose a lower default speed limit for Brandon, which could then make the province responsible for the huge cost of buying and installing all the necessary signs. That inference appears all the more plausible given that the city apparently did not request that the applicable Highway Traffic Act regulation be amended by the province in order to reduce the onerous signage requirements.

Further adding to the confusion regarding the issue is the fact that the letters to the two ministers imply that Brandon has decided to lower its default speed limit, but that isn’t the case. A Powerpoint slide from the April 20 council meeting states that “Default speed limits are not changing today” and “Public engagement will occur to further discuss speed limits in the City of Brandon.”

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett told the Sun that lowering the default speed limit isn’t something that would happen anytime soon, but that “the discussion is the default speed limit to 40 (km/h) on specific roadways, and I think we are looking just for a little bit more input from the province on that.” That may be his desire, but Simard and Naylor have made it clear that the people city council should be seeking “more input” from on the speed limit issue is Brandonites, not the provincial government.

If our city council and administration is serious about reducing the default speed limit in the city to 40 km/h, or even just imposing that limit on certain roadways, they must first convince the public that the benefits of doing so would far outweigh any inconvenience and additional costs. The report to council argues that fatalities and serious injuries can be reduced through lower speed limits, but would lowering Brandon’s speed limit from 50 km/h to 40 km/h — from 31 miles per hour to 24 mph — really make a significant difference?

Our city council must make that case to Brandonites, not cabinet ministers in Winnipeg.