*EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story said public engagement would be completed by the end of 2019, with council voting on the issue as soon as March. City council extended the timeline on Monday, and will receive a report no later than June.
Calgarians will get their say on whether or not they want to see speed limits lowered in Calgary.
City Council voted Monday night to launch a public engagement campaign focused on improving safety on Calgary streets.
The campaign will cost $200,000 and will involve city-run open houses, town halls and an online survey.
City administrators also said they will be talking to transport businesses, such as bussing companies.
While the vote to hear from Calgarians did pass, several councillors balked at the $200,000 price tag.
Ward 14 Councillor Peter Demong went as far as to put forward a motion to postpone the speed limit issue until 2021.
Ward 9 Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra said the cost to reduce speed limits is a necessary investment in public safety.
“While I recognize we’re in a downturn and we have to look for places to cut expenditures, starting a project that should’ve started 20 years ago and putting it off for several more years is not the right thing to do.”
The three scenarios include a 30 km/h speed limit on residential and collector streets, 30 km/h on residential streets with collector streets at 50 km/h and a final option of 40km/h on both residential streets and collector roads.
The committee also voted to include the option of leaving things as they are as well as getting a cost analysis of what the changes would cost.
Engagement is expected completed in the early months of 2020 and council will receive a report on the engagement no later than June.
– With files from Aurelio Perri
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