A Winnipeg city councillor wants to drastically reduce the speed limit on a busy stretch of road running through his ward.
Coun. Kevin Klein believes the speed limit on Wilkes Avenue between Loudoun Road and Liberty Street should be reduced from 80 km/h to 50 km/h., but he asked city hall to review the stretch from Shaftesbury Boulevard to the Perimeter Highway.
“I’m saying, ‘Let’s not wait until somebody gets killed before we do something,'” Klein said. “Lets take a look at it now.”
The current speed limit makes it dangerous to turn on and off the busy road, according to Klein, who said he gets up to two complaints a week from residents.
“Right now people are telling me it’s not safe,” he said.
Between 2013 and 2017, there have been 82 crashes at the intersection of Elmhurst Road and Wilkes Avenue, according to Manitoba Public Insurance.
During that same period, there were 31 crashes at Wilkes Avenue and Loudoun Road and 10 at Liberty Street.
For some drivers, a slower Wilkes Avenue can’t come soon enough.
“It’s insane trying to get on there some days in rush hour traffic,” said one driver. “I sort of gauge my activity, going shopping and what not by time of day.”
But others disagree.
“It would just congest traffic a lot more here,” said another driver.
Klein said reducing the speed limit on the busy route could just be the first step.