City looks at four streets to test slower 30 km/h speed limit

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This article was published 04/06/2021 (1579 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A year-long pilot project to reduce the speed limit on four residential streets posed by the City of Winnipeg last year may soon take off.

Winnipeg public service will recommend council move forward with the plan to slow traffic on the select streets to 30 km/h (from 50 km/h), and begin a study looking at how other cities are approaching relaxing travel on similar roads, during the standing policy committee meeting June 10.

The original proposal, in July 2020, suggested five streets to use as trial spots, but removed one (Roch Street, from Poplar to Leighton avenues) after public feedback.

The four planned for the trial run are: Eugenie Street (St. Mary’s Road to Youville Street), Warsaw Avenue (Thurso Street to Pembina Highway), Machray Avenue (Fife to Main streets), and Powers Street (Dufferin to Partridge avenues).

The list proposed last year was similar, with the only difference being the switch from Flora Avenue to Powers Street, a decision the report said was made after consultation with the ward.

They are considered four of Winnipeg’s 11 “greenway routes” — or a street that receives various treatments to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians, including additional signage and pavement markings.

“It’s looking at an opportunity to further define what our greenways look like in Winnipeg, which are pretty ill-defined right now,” public works chairman Coun. Matt Allard said Friday.

“So if it works well, it could be that 30 km/hr becomes part of what a greenway is in Winnipeg, further adding incentive to using the streets for cyclists as opposed to all the other streets in Winnipeg.”

The original council direction was to look into having a street with a reduced speed in each ward.

“This is part of that, I don’t know that it’s necessarily the end of the story, but certainly it accomplishes that objective in four wards,” Allard said.

The standing policy committee is also asking the city reduce the amount of signage necessary to designate a lower speed zone. Currently, the requirement is signs be up on every street corner, which Allard said most Winnipeggers in residential areas don’t want and would cost millions of dollars.

Rather, the report suggests signage be put up at the edge of a neighbourhood or city if the speed limit is reduced.

Allard said there isn’t a decided date of implementation, but the date would have to be decided by the end of July.

The conversation has divided Winnipeggers. Allard said public engagement on the idea has been high.

A survey sent out by the city on the pilot project received 567 responses and, after its proposal last year, a petition against lowering the limit to 30 km/hr received more than 6,000 signatures.

“If you ask the question straight up it’s very polarizing, because people are envisioning all sorts of scenarios that would probably not happen,” Allard said.

Machray Avenue resident Debrae Campbell said the conversation has been divisive even in her own home. While her husband is critical of the plan, Campbell said she’s seen people drag racing down her residential street and wants stricter rules.

“This road here is crazy, especially in the evening, you’ll see families in the park and the cars will go whipping by with no regard for anything,” she said while walking her dog Friday.

She hoped there would be more enforcement to dissuade people from driving unsafely, if the city does change the speed limit.

“What’s it going to take? One kid smacked and then you’ll realize you need to slow down?”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: malakabas_