Winnipeg City Councillor Kevin Klein serving Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood
There are members of City Councillor who are advocating strongly to have residential speeds in our City reduced to 30 KM/h.
The concept is being rolled out in some Canadian and European cities today. The process is commonly known as Vision Zero. Read more by clicking here. Speed limit reduction is considered a shorter-term initiative that can be implemented quickly but is not as effective as some of the longer-term actions such as modifying the design of the roadway, which takes several years to plan, program, design, and implement.
The concern I have is enforcement. If you reduce the speed with no speed enforcement, will the desired result be achieved? The City does not have the funding to police every residential street, maybe the Mayor's EPC discussion included photo radar every street? I'm also concerned with the little consideration given to proven alternatives.
The alternative options are known as "Traffic Calming Measures," and have a lasting impact on how fast vehicles travel on residential streets. Take a look at the pictures below. These are examples of actions we could implement in Winnipeg, and they are about safety, not revenues.
Imagine the sign below placed on a street as you approach a park.
Imagine these painted crosswalks being located near schools.
Imagine the sign below placed just before every crosswalk in the City.
If safety is the real objective and not revenue, there are alternatives would be more reasonable.
I appeared before the committee making the decision and presented a simple and inclusive alternative to arbitrarily reducing residential speed limits.
We need to think differently!
City Hall must spend more time listening to residents and less time focusing on personal legacy projects and cash grabs.
I would like to know, as your representative, what do you think? Please take our poll by clicking here.
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