Council votes to delay decision on lowering residential speed limits
Posted Nov 3, 2020 1:08 pm.
Last Updated Nov 4, 2020 7:01 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – City council is pushing a decision on residential speed limits down the road.
Council voted to delay the move to reduce the speed on smaller roads to 40 km/hr, possibly putting the issue to a public vote.
Some councillors showed their support for reducing the limit including Mayor Naheed Nenshi who said speeding on residential roads is a problem.
“I’ve talked to so many people and the number one thing I’ve heard is, because people have been working at home, is the quantity of speeding on residential roads.”
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Nenshi added that public input on the matter this week also shows there’s a lot of misinformation being spread.
“We had someone actually tell the story of how she lost her partner on a residential road and the very next speaker said ‘I don’t think anybody’s ever hit on a residential road.’ The very next speaker.”
Other false claims Nenshi pointed to included the fears that Calgary will turn into one big playground zone and that there’s not enough data to support the 40km/hr limit.
While many on council supported the idea to lower the limits, others like Ward 11 Councillor Jeromy Farkas said other solutions should be considered.
“It’s the illusion of solving a problem without actually doing the hard work of education, enforcement and engineering. I believe the money would be far better spent on problem areas. Plus, once some on council have their way to defund the police, who is going to enforce these new speed limits.”
A number of communities near Calgary including Airdrie and Chestermere have already lowered residential speed limits.
If the move is brought to a plebiscite, it wouldn’t take place until the next municipal election on Oct. 18, 2021.
That idea will be discussed further at a council meeting in February, 2021.
