Council hands off speed limit decision
A controversial recommendation to lower the speed limit to 40 kilometres per hour on local streets in Windsor has been pushed down the road following a request by Mayor Drew Dilkens to refer the issue to a special committee that will study road safety.
In a 6-4 vote, council at Monday's meeting supported the mayor's request to refer the speed limit issue to the city's Vision Zero Policy group.
The task force — which will include area emergency responders, plus health and safety experts — has not yet been fully formed, but is scheduled to report back with final recommendations in about a year.
Council in 2019 voted to participate in the provincewide Vision Zero Policy initiative on a local level. The intent is implementing road safety measures that focus on achieving zero fatalities or serious injuries.
“I feel we should refer this issue back to them to consider 40 km/h during that process,” Dilkens said.
Coun. Gary Kaschak, among those on council supporting dropping the speed limit on neighbourhood streets from 50 to 40, spoke against the referral.
“That's a noble idea, but there has already been a lot of study and research on this topic,” he said. “It's a highly anticipated item that residents want to see dealt with.
“Recommendations from Vision Zero are not until next year. Then we are getting into an election year and decisions will be cut off. So, it will possibly go to a new council in 2023 and that's unfair to Windsorites.”
The recommendation that was put in front of council Monday came from the city's Environment, Transportation and Public Safety Standing Committee whose members voted 3-2 on March 24 to implement the 50-to-40 speed limit change as soon as possible.
The committee recommendation was made despite an administrative report that noted: “most research has found that reducing speed limits, in and of itself, does not cause significant changes in operating speeds.”
Jeff Hagan, the city's transportation planning senior engineer, told the committee last month most serious motor vehicle collisions happen at higher-speed intersections. Serious cyclist-car crashes tend to happen at major signalized intersections and pedestrian-car collisions happen at busy intersections, particularly downtown, he said.