District of Squamish is following the lead of the District of Saanich on a pilot project that would create a speed limit of 40 km/hour on local roads that don’t have a continuous yellow centre line.
The pilot project would reduce the speed limit in neighbourhoods from 50 kim/h to 40 km/h. It would be based on the presence of line markings and would not require extensive signage.
An advantage, district staff says, is that it makes it very simple for drivers to understand what speed they should be traveling at any given time.
The staff has contacted the managers at Saanich to share resources on this project and are asking council to apply for a similar pilot project.
According to a report, the staff sees three advantages: Low cost, shared resources and knowledge with the District of Saanich, and a system that is easy for drivers to understand.
However, the project will require staff time to develop the applications and may include hiring outside contractors. It may require some review of which streets have yellow lines. It would need approval from Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
This pilot project is among several scenarios the staff is suggesting to the council after the council directed staff this month to research the possibility of reducing speeds in residential zones.
In one such scenario, the district would install signage at every residential intersection chosen for lower speed limits, as per the requirements of the Motor Vehicle Act.
All streets would have a speed limit of 40 km/hr, except for major collector roads which would remain at the default 50 km/hr speed limit. However, this scenario requires signage, which will cost close to $140,000 and enforcement.
In another scenario, the staff would develop criteria to allow some residential streets to be designated as Neighbourhood Ways with a speed limit of 30 km/hr.
Yet another scenario would see all locals roads except the highway carry a speed limit of 40 km/h, although this would require significant time and effort to prepare an application for MOTI.
The staff, however, is recommending the district work with Saanich to develop a yellow-line pilot study proposal, which would take less time and can be implemented this year.
keith says
Maybe put it to a vote with the people of squamish before telling us what you are going to do. Just like all the land changes????
Donny says
It would be nice to see the statistics that show that 40 KM produce noticeably less accidents than 50. Squamish is noted for its lousy road marking that fades within six months, if this goes ahead let’s hope the yellow paint lasts a little longer. Agree let’s ask the public what they want before staff wastes it’s time or is this another example of parking space reduction for money all an evil plot to get rid of the car.
francine lessard says
Here is my opinion and that’s all it is.
When you speak to parents they seem to concerned about how fast people drive down the neighborhood.
You read comments on Facebook and elsewhere you ear about children getting hurt,hit,near misses and so on.
I personally saw a girl on a bike drive herself right into the back of truck with its tail gate down parked in front of my house.
She could not stop because a speeding car was coming at her.
Cars on side roads are going too fast its as if they know there is no law inforcement so they get away with it everyday.
So now that finally the district is doing something about do uou really think its time to start doing a study or ask the publics opinion?
They know what our opinion is we have been asking for speed reduction for years. In reality to enforce speed reduction we need speed bumps because most of these lines will be ignored and will be a waste of time and our money if you can not enforce with speeding tickets.
Speed bump are used on skyline and other areas and even all over Whistler where it does snow a lot more then here.
Forget the lines go for the bump.