New speed limits, higher fines on road where boy was killed
Speeding crackdown comes after 11-year-old Jude Strickland was struck and killed last December on Upper Gage Avenue
Jamie Strickland supports the city’s plan to cut speeding near the Upper Gage intersection where his 11-year-old son Jude died last December — but he and nearby residents also hope that’s “just the start.”
Jude was walking with a crossing guard when he was struck and killed by a pickup truck that police say ran a red light at Upper Gage and Royal Vista Drive. The tragedy spurred a community outcry and a road safety petition organized by area residents Timothy Taylor and Tiffany Bound-Koocher.
The resulting traffic safety audit, which is going to city councillors Feb. 19,
proposes several speed limit cuts in the area as well as doubled fines for speeding on a section of Upper Gage. The city also set up flashing speed signs along the road in the days after the fatal crash.
“We’re definitely behind any effort to reduce the speed limit, for sure. There are just so many kids crossing that stretch of road, daily, including the rest of our boys,” said Strickland. “This week they were back in school for the first time and it was quite emotional for us.”
But Strickland expressed hope the city would also look at design changes on Upper Gage to prevent cars “racing” for positioning where the road narrows to fewer lanes south of Stone Church.
“We think it’s kind of absurd that (the lanes) are set up that way leading toward a school crossing,” said Strickland, who wonders if a different configuration “could have changed everything” the day his son died.
Taylor and Bound-Koocher also called for road design changes in the area, including speed bumps, in a 167-name petition presented to the city at a virtual meeting last month.
Taylor called the planned speed limit changes “a good first step,” but added he want to see traffic-calming policies applied to all arterial roads — not just residential side streets — across the city.
“Hopefully this is just the start.”
The report going to public works committee next week specifically proposes cutting the speed limit from 50 to 40 km/h on Upper Gage between Rymal and Stone Church roads. Planned speed limit reductions to 30 km/h near schools on Royal Vista and Templemead
Drive will also happen sooner rather than later.
A section of Upper Gage will also be designated a “community safety zone” — which means speeding fines double.
In theory, that designation also allows for a photo-radar camera, but the city is still studying the automated ticketing technology and has not committed to continuing the program beyond this fall.
The report says the city will study possible road design changes on Upper Gage, but that will take time.
City traffic experts do not believe a red-light camera is warranted at the intersection based on annual statistics and new monitoring done in December.
The report said the latest speed monitoring suggested the average on Upper Gage between Rymal and Stone Church was between 47 km/h and almost 49 km/h. Taylor said he has noticed a positive difference in speeding since the city set up flashing electronic speed signs late last year.
Strickland said he would support default arterial speed limits set at 40 km/h near any city intersection used by schoolchildren. “Going from 50 to 40 (km/h) doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice to keep the road safer for kids,” he said.