Default residential speed limits drop to 40km/h Monday

CALGARY – Speed limits across many neighbourhoods have dropped from 50 to 40 kilometers per hour.

Roads that have a posted speed limit of over 50 aren’t affected.

If you don’t see a posted speed limit, then you’re in an area where the speed limit is now 40.

“Some of the larger roads that have more traffic going through communities–that have houses but they also have other services like schools, strip malls, bus routes, quite often they’re snow routes–those types of roads, the majority of them are going to be staying 50 kilometres an hour,” said the city’s Tony Churchill.

Calgary has an average of just under 40,000 collisions a year with a quarter of those happening on residential roads.

“This is something that citizens have been raising with councillors and council has been discussing for decades,” he said.

“I really hope people will support people just slowing down in their communities to make it objectively safer.”

And Churchill says the city is hoping these changes will reduce the number of cars hitting people or damaging property.