Saskatoon city council will decide if it’s necessary to consider lowering residential street speed limits from the current 50 km/h.
City administration is recommending council approve a development of a “detailed framework for revising posted speed limits on neighbourhood streets.”
This would also include school and playground zones.
City council’s transportation committee will decide on the report’s recommendation on Tuesday at a 2 p.m. meeting.
No specific lowered speed is proposed, but the report laid out the benefits of a 40 km/h or even 30 km/h limit.
The report said following 40 neighbourhood traffic reviews, one major concern raised by residents is vehicles speeding.
However, the city found the majority of drivers aren’t exceeding the posted speed limit. Instead the report said the “perception of speeding is a result from the vehicle operating speeds ‘feeling’ too fast for residents.”
“This indicates that the posted speed limit is an issue, as it does not align with current individual and neighbourhood community values or expectations,” the report said.
The report also cited pedestrian and cyclist safety as a factor, saying if the speed limit was lowered from 50 km/h to 40 km/h, the survival rate of a collision would improve by 40 per cent.
As for the impact to commuters, the report said a lowered speed limit of 30 km/h on the neighbourhood street portion of an average commute would add less than a minute to the travel time.
Main arterial streets and freeways, such as Taylor Street and 8th Street, would not be considered for the speed limit reductions.
If the transportation committee supports the recommendation, city council will still have the final say.
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