City set to take speeders head on

lier this month, the city introduced updates to its speed zoning policy, in a bid to promote faster response time to speeding-related concerns, expand its school speed zone program and get the community involved in setting residential limits.

Under the new changes – which will go before council Wednesday, Oct. 28, and are meant to create a “point of reference” and “consistent application” for dealing with speeding issues – 60 per cent consensus from property owners along local residential streets will be required to lower limits to 40 km/h, according to city information. Minor collector roads will continue to use a warrant system to determine if they meet criteria for lower speeds, while major collector and arterial roads will have their limits decided using the 85th percentile operating speed.

While the policy, established in 1975, was “quite a bit ahead of its time,” the three major modifications made to it deal with procedure for setting speed limits on gravel roads, establishing school safety zones and posting 40 km/h limits on local residential streets, explains Tom Carmody, traffic assessment specialist with the city.

“(The policy) updates all the research,” he continues, pointing to successes already made with various school zone testing sites and previous community action to push for lower residential speed limits. “Safety is paramount in any speed zone policy. Not only for drivers – for pedestrians, cyclists, residents. It’s the safety of all road users.”

But only two years ago, the municipality of Kingston took a different route in dealing with speeding infractions in residential neighbourhoods, deciding to officially shift their attention from lowering limits in 2007, says Deanna Green, manager of the City of Kingston’s traffic division.

“Every single day we were getting calls about people speeding in residential areas,” she recounts. “But we found (lowered limits) to be significantly ineffective, as with any signage.”

Instead, the municipality currently employs a number of different features to help slow traffic, Green continues, including speed bumps, extended curbs, “very small” roundabouts called mini-circles and raised crosswalks.

Their first major traffic-calming project was installed three years ago, she explains, with four speed bumps and a pair of curb extensions placed on a Kingston residential roadway. There, the average speed went from 56 or 57 km/h to 51 km/h, Green says, without counting how much more drivers decreased speed when approaching the features themselves.

“Residents were very pleased with the project,” she suggests, admitting the traffic-calming measures overall have received a decidedly “mixed” public response. While residents on the impacted streets have offered positive feedback, drivers on nearby side streets or who use the neighbourhoods as shortcuts have not, Green describes, adding emergency and fire services “will never” support those kinds of features being installed.

Traffic-calming measures are one route to take when combating speeding, but they can be a long, convoluted process, Carmody continues, taking years, major roadwork and extensive studies to implement. Though proven effective at slowing down traffic, features like speed bumps can also lead to noise and exhaust issues for surrounding neighbourhoods, he says. Instead, Ottawa’s updated policy encompasses an “interconnected” combination of engineering, enforcement and education to fight speeders, Carmody adds.