Roads in three Manitoba communities to see reduced speed limits: infrastructure minister

Three Manitoba communities will see speed limit reductions in an attempt to reduce the number of serious and fatal crashes, the province said Friday.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced roads in the Rural Municipalities of Headingley and Springfield, as well as in the town of Niverville, will see amended speed limits.

“The core value of our government is the safety of Manitobans and speeds that motorists travel greatly influence the severity of collisions and injuries or fatalities due to collisions,” Schuler said.

“The proposed speed reductions will improve the level of safety on Manitoba’s roadways.”

The changes come after a 45-day consultation period that began in August, Schuler said.

Excessive speeding has been a concern in various parts of the province throughout 2020. In September, Manitoba RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre expressed frustration to 680 CJOB over a rash of speeding arrests and traffic fatalities.

“It’s probably no coincidence that we’ve had the highest number of fatalities,” he said. “We’re looking at almost 70 deaths already for 2020. Is there a correlation with the speeding? Probably.”

The roads affected by the speed limit amendment are:

• PR 206 in the RM of Springfield, which drops to 70 km/h for 300 m stretches both north and south of the Garven Road intersection
• PR 241 and 334 in the RM of Headingley, both of which will be reduced to 70 km/h over a 5.7 km stretch between PTH 100 and Taylor Bridge
• PR 311 in Niverville will see its existing 70 km/h limit stretched further west and east

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