City sees mixed results with speed-limit drops

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/09/2024 (624 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Adherence to reduced speed limits in neighbourhoods participating in a vision zero pilot project hasn’t been as much as hoped, Brandon City Council heard at its Tuesday meeting.

With several streets and neighbourhoods having their speed limits reduced over the last couple of years, transportation planner Sam van Huizen was on hand to provide a project update.

The first part of the speed limit reduction program was on Durum Drive. Starting in January 2022, the speed on the road was reduced to 40 kilometres an hour.

The second phase saw speed limit reductions to 40 km/h in parts of the Parkdale and Riverheights neighbourhoods, around Rideau Park and along Princess Avenue East. Those changes went into effect on July 1, 2023.

According to data shown by van Huizen, while there had been an initial success in reducing the speed of traffic, motorists have started to drive faster as time has progressed.

While some areas with the reduced speeds have seen the speed of motorists decrease compared to before the change, they are still above the new speeds.

While some of the areas subject to the speed limit reductions have seen a reduction in the average daily number of vehicle trips on them, a couple of them have seen an increase. The areas with increases include the 3700 block of Centennial Boulevard, the 3500 block of Rosser Avenue and the 400 block of Lorne Avenue East.

On top of the speed changes, a mini-roundabout was installed at the intersection of Princess Avenue East and Douglas Street.

There have been no reported collisions, van Huizen said, though there has been a bit of a learning curve for both motorists and pedestrians.

Some calls about near misses have been received, but van Huizen said the number of calls is similar to those at other types of intersections like two-way stops.

In February, after the roundabout had been installed and the speed limit reduced to 40 km/h, the average speed of traffic going through the intersection was 34 km/h.

However, by July, the average speed had risen to 43 km/h. Van Huizen said this could be due to motorists getting more comfortable traversing the roundabout over time.

Four main conclusions have been drawn:

• A speed limit reduction with signage alone might not be enough to get motorists to comply with new traffic rules,

• Traffic calming measures improve speed limit compliance, but only for a short period of time

• Traffic calming measures can be seen by residents as a negative when users aren’t consulted on their purpose and installation.

• Survey results indicate that there were gaps in communication when it came to the purpose of road improvements.

Going forward, the reduced speed-limit zones will remain in effect and other experiments with traffic calming will be carried out as city staff investigate long-term motorist behaviours.

Existing traffic calming measures will be kept in place to observe compliance with road rules. Also, communication and education measures will be stepped up.

To facilitate improve data collection, more traffic volume counters are being purchased to measure both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This will have a combined cost of around $27,000.

Another $10,000 will be spent on an advertising campaign to improve public awareness of road safety efforts, $4,000 will be spent to create memorials in honour of people who died in traffic collisions and $9,000 will be spent on signage and other infrastructure for future traffic calming measures.

Coun. Shawn Berry (Ward 7), who led the push in 2021 and 2022 to get the speed limit reduced on Durum Drive, said he thought it was time to expand speed reduction efforts to other parts of the city.

Coun. Shaun Cameron (Ward 4) said he is advocating for the speed limit on McDonald Avenue in his ward to be reduced.

The mayor reminded those in attendance that he and Brandon East NDP MLA Glen Simard will be hosting a joint town hall meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday. It will be held at The Backyard on Aberdeen at 1624 13th St.

Earlier that day, there will be a special council meeting at noon to discuss a new water service lead mitigation program being proposed by city staff.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark