Municipal leaders from around the province are in Vancouver this week for the annual Union of BC Municipalities Convention (UBCM).
About 150 policies are up for debate, from the cost of recycling, to government finances.
One of most talked about issues is the idea Victoria has put forward: to lower the speed limit on municipal streets from 50 km/h to 40 km/h.
For Greg Moore, the Mayor of Port Coquitlam and chair of Metro Vancouver, part of the challenge overall is that people are driving faster.
“I think people, traffic is a big issue,” he said. “In Port Coquitlam we had a tragedy this week when a young child was hit in a marked crosswalk, walking on a green light. That was an absolute tragic situation and we’re still dealing with it because it was a hit and run.”
“Did speed matter? No, you know we don’t know what the cause was, I think distracted driving, people rushing to get things quicker, I challenge people, just drive the speed limit for a while,” he said. “Follow all the laws you were taught when you were 16, and find out how people around you react. Because when you drive the speed limit, you’ll see how fast people are driving around you.”
Moore said part of the issue has to be enforcement. “Maybe we have to do a better job of enforcing our current laws,” he said.
Mayor of Kelowna, Walter Gray, thinks lowering the speed limit could be a good move.
“I read that proposal by Victoria and I’m halfway there agreeing with them,” he said.
“In most neighbourhoods, 50 km is too fast.”
“Certainly province wide, if they move it from 50 down to 40, I wouldn’t fight that,” he added.
Gray said if people need to travel around the province that fast, they should fly. “They’ve got a great airport in Kamloops, and we’ve got a great airport in Kelowna, there’s great airports all over the province. No, we can’t just keep going faster and faster. We’re not the Autobahn, nor should we be,” he said.
The UBCM, which is the advocate for local government in the province, will look at whether lowering the speed limit on municipal streets is the best move for communities around B.C. Currently, if not otherwise posted, the speed limit inside a municipality is 50 km/h and outside it is 80 km/h.
That vote will take place later in the week.
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