Council puts off speed-limit vote in favour of study
Several councillors argue they don’t have enough information
Council backed away from a vote Tuesday to reduce speed limits on local or side roads to 30 km/ h, opting instead to do more study and debate it again in March 2019.
But that had one councillor warning people will continue to get hit while council dithers.
“What’s the delay? Five or 10 seconds, for a life?” said Coun. Aaron Paquette, whose wife was hit in May 2012 while waiting to cross a residential street with a friend. The SUV shattered her vertebrae; broke her ribs, jaw and wrist; punctured her lungs and filled them with blood.
She dragged herself from under the vehicle and lay on the grass, watching the sky turn darker, realizing she was running out of breath.
“Because of the incredible skill of our doctors and (emergency responders), my wife survived, but it was razor-thin,” he told council, his voice quivering with emotion before the final vote.
That story is not unique to his family, he said: “People’s lives are being changed every moment we delay.”
Paquette, Ben Henderson, Andrew Knack, Scott McKeen and Mayor Don Iveson all said they would have been willing to support lower speeds now.
Henderson spearheaded the effort, saying neighbourhoods in his ward have been asking for reduced speeds for years.
But Coun. Michael Walters worried about implementation and Coun. Tim Cartmell pushed for a comprehensive review of how different types of streets are being treated.
Several other councillors said they don’t have a clear picture yet of where collisions are happening and why.
“It’s a highly divisive issue,” said Walters, suggesting it’s more important to act quickly on improving safety at crosswalks.
That’s scheduled to come to a council committee next week.
Plus, Edmonton hasn’t implemented other similar initiatives well, Walters said, pointing to the painted bike lanes that were then removed last term, a traffic calming project in his ward that went so badly a neighbour started throwing rocks at another resident in frustration, and playground speed limits going in where many residents feel they don’t make sense.
“What I hear most in my ward is (issues with) crosswalks and school traffic safety,” he said.
The city ’s Office of Traffic Safety analyzed where collisions are happening. On these local side roads, not including areas already designated playground and school zones, Edmonton sees an average of 11 serious injuries or fatalities a year, the majority being serious injuries.
They estimate that will fall to seven per year if speed limits are reduced to 30 km/h, because the lower speed reduces the severity of injuries. Further injuries could be avoided because drivers would have more time to avoid a collision.
Local roads generally only run a couple of blocks before meeting a collector road or arterial, where most commuters spend the majority of their time driving.
Cartmell also pushed for changes to the way Edmonton implemented its playground zones, suggesting they be removed from multilane collector roads and run with shortened hours during the winter.
That debate was postponed for two weeks to the next council meeting.