3,000 warnings handed out as grace period for Edmonton’s 40 km/h default speed limit ends

Edmonton drivers have been warned and now enforcement will come into effect for the city’s new default speed limit.

Automated enforcement of Edmonton’s new 40 km/h default speed limit began on Wednesday. The Edmonton Police Service and City of Edmonton will work together to enforce the speed limits, which came into effect on Aug. 6. Drivers were given a grace period to adapt to the change.

The new default 40 km/h limit is for most of Edmonton’s residential and downtown streets. That means if drivers don’t see a speed limit sign, the speed limit will be 40 km/h instead of 50 km/h.

“Most of our roads in Edmonton have seen a change because it is all of our residential spaces, downtown, as well as Whyte and Jasper Avenue,” Jessica Lamarre with the City of Edmonton said.

“So if folks aren’t sure what the speed limit is, they haven’t seen a sign, they should be assuming 40 (km/h).”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "So if folks aren't sure what the speed limit is, they haven't seen a sign, they should be assuming 40 (km/h)."

In an update Wednesday, the EPS said 3,000 warnings were handed out to drivers during the grace period, with the average speed of those in violation clocked at 53 km/h. About 80 per cent of drivers obeyed the new 40 km/h limit, according to the EPS.

With kids heading back to school at the same time, police are also reminding drivers of the 30 km/h playground zones across the city.

“Starting today, through to the end of next week, we’ll be scheduled to go out to various schools, around 150 schools in the Edmonton area,” Sgt. Kerry Bates with the EPS said.

“We’ll be dropping by just to keep an eye on compliance with the speeds, the driving behaviour, those sorts of things. We’ll have some enforcement that comes out of that, but a lot of it will be an educational campaign as well.”

The city has about 100 automated enforcement locations in the new 40 km/h zones.