The Saanich municipal council is moving forward with lowering speed limits on some roadways.
It was decided in a unanimous vote on Monday that the district will be further developing its pilot project, named the Speed Limit Establishment Policy, on Type A and Type B streets.
The latest vote approved Phase 2 of the project, with nine corridors in the district targeted in Phase 1.
In Phase 2, 13 more corridors and two neighbourhoods will have speed limits reduced to 30 km/h.
Those include Blenkinsop Road/Maplewood Drive, Brookleigh Road, Burnside Road West, Carey Road, Cedar Hill Road, Columbine Way, Glanford Avenue, Gordon Head Road, Interurban Road, Lochside Drive, Richmond Road, Tattersall Drive and Tolmie Avenue.
The two neighbourhoods are Lansdowne (south of Lansdowne Road) and Tillicum (southeast of Tillicum Road and southwest of Burnside Road West).
Type A streets are typically residential streets without a continuous yellow centre line, or streets where a bikeway exists or is in the proposed Active Transportation Plan.
Type B are streets with a continuous yellow centre line.
The initial Speed Limit Establishment Policy was established in 2022, in an effort to create “calmer, quieter streets while enhancing safety,” the district said.
“Slower speeds afford drivers more reaction time, thereby diminishing the likelihood of severe or fatal accidents involving motor vehicles and vulnerable road users,” Saanich staff said.
“Setting appropriate speed limits is integral to fostering a safe and fair transportation network. Our district is dedicated to decreasing speed limits on residential streets and reassessing and lowering limits on collector and major roads.”
The pilot project is part of Saanich’s Vision Zero initiative.
Vision Zero has the ambition of “eliminating all traffic injuries and fatalities.”
“Vision Zero is a new paradigm for road safety that recognizes that human error is inevitable and a systems-based approach is needed to address multiple factors affecting road safety including speed limits, road design, education and awareness for road users, enforcement, and vehicle safety,” Saanich staff said on its website.
New street signage is expected to be posted in the coming weeks for streets that will be affected.
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