Residential-street reduced-speed pilot expected to start in March

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This article was published 03/01/2023 (720 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pilot project that would reduce the speed limit on residential streets in four Winnipeg neighbourhoods is now expected to begin in March.

The long-planned project would see the standard 50 km/h maximum speed limit for drivers drop to 40 km/h in the Worthington and Richmond West neighbourhoods and 30 km/h in the Tyndall Park South and Bourkevale neighbourhoods.

While a call to amend a bylaw to allow the one-year trial still requires council approval, the public works committee voted in favour of testing speed-limit reductions in these areas in April 2022.

In an email, city spokeswoman Julie Horbal Dooley said the city expects to begin consulting residents about the reduced speed-limit trial by the end of this month.

“We plan to launch targeted pre-pilot engagement with residents of affected streets at the end of January, and to implement the speed limit changes in early- to mid-March,” wrote Horbal Dooley.

Individual Winnipeggers and advocacy groups have lobbied the city to reduce the speed on residential streets for years, arguing doing so would make walking and cycling safer. By contrast, others launched a petition against the speed reduction, arguing the current speed limit is appropriate.

— Staff