The City of Vancouver is considering lowering the speed limits on minor streets from 50 km/h to 30 km/h in an effort to save lives.
The recommendations from a report going to council on Wednesday are informed by other programs around the world which have shown promising results.
They are part of the ‘Vision Zero’ strategy first adopted in Europe, aimed at reducing fatal crashes and injuries to zero by overhauling traffic safety programs.
The ‘Vision Zero’ strategy is something recently-elected Vancouver councillor Lisa Maloney is hoping to get closer to by adopting this new model on traffic safety, also set to go before council next week.
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“I know that what we can do here is more speed bumps, raised crosswalks, narrower lanes, something called daylighting intersections which means that you reduce visual impediments at intersections so that every road user can see each other coming,” Maloney explained.
“I hope that we have a unanimous vote to show staff that we really care about reducing deaths and injuries on our roads and we’re going to stand behind them to make sure it happens.”
That hope is shared by councillor Pete Fry, who has been working towards these traffic changes for years.
“We’ve seen it across tons of European cities, New York, Portland, Seattle, they’ve all reduced their speed limits on residential side streets,” Fry told Global News.
“If a human body is hit by a car travelling at 50 km/h an hour, the chances of grievous bodily injury or death are about 80 per cent. If that same person is hit by a car travelling at 30 km/h an hour, the risk of injury or death reduces down to about 10 per cent,” Fry added.
Councillors stress the changes will not require costly consultants since much of the research is taken from existing data in other cities.
However, according to the report, lowering speed limits won’t come cheap.
The report recommends a progressive phase-in starting with 25 neighbourhood slow zones at a cost of $350,000.
If approved, over the course of the next three years, the cost of installing slow zone signs on every street in the city will total around $14 million.
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City of Vancouver considers 30 km/h speed limit on minor streets
