Not all school zone speed limits will be the same: city

Winnipeg City Hall is preparing to reduce the speed limits in school zones.

The province brought into force Monday new legislation that will allow municipalities to not only reduce the speed limit from 50 to 30 kilometres an hour or from 80 to 50 kilometres an hour in rural areas, but mandate more signs be posted to notify motorists when they’re entering and leaving a school zone.

The city might not reduce the speed limit at every school.

“Makes sense but at the same token, you don’t want to do something that will cause other problems,” said Mayor Sam Katz.

Busier streets such as Grant Avenue, Portage Avenue or Notre Dame Avenue might be reduced to 50 or stay the same.

“Lowering the speed limit to 30 in one place in Winnipeg may make sense,” said Justice Minister Andrew Swan, “but the City of Winnipeg may say it doesn’t make sense in another part of the city because of traffic flows.”

That has the Winnipeg School Division concerned.

“Ultimately it would be nice if it’s the same for every school no matter where we are,” spokesman Dale Burgos said.

Different speed limits will be confusing for motorists, he explained.

“You have a large city like Calgary where it drops down to 30 km/h. It doesn’t matter where you are in the city, it slows right now, and they police that.”

Some Tec Voc High School students agree.

“It’s pretty dangerous,” said Grade 12 student Denzel McIvor.

The current speed limit on Notre Dame past Tec Voc is 60 km/h. McIvor would like to see it reduced.

Katz agrees but said it will ultimately be up to city staff to recommend appropriate limits.

The City of Winnipeg set aside $1 million in 2012 to pay for signs.

Katz said a bylaw will pass before the end of the year and signs will go up, including reduced speed limits.

The new limits will be enforced by Winnipeg police, who said they’ll be out in full force making sure people are abiding by the new bylaw.