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Originally Posted by Crisis
Needed to re-animate this thread from the depths of page 2.
Wondering about people's thoughts on the City of Saskatoon considering a change to 40kph speed limits in residential areas. What do you think?
I really don't think it's needed. I'm not aware of a multitude of vehicular incidents (hitting pedestrians or other vehicles) that would necessitate this change.
Will a change from 50kph to 40kph result in fewer incidents? Almost certainly. And a drop to 30kph would likely result in even fewer. 20kph? Might bring it close to zero, other than cars getting rear-ended by bicycles. An extreme proposal, but you get my point. At what speed does the need for efficient movement of vehicles intersect with the safety of those roads?
Of primary concern is the idea that any road with street-facing homes is considered a "residential" street. That would include most of the arterial streets in the city: Idylwyld, 8th street, 22nd street, College Drive. Though the extent of the application of a reduced speed limit (if any) is still to be determined, I would hope that a bit of common sense would enter into the decision.
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I'm all for it on the local neighbourhood streets, and am open to being convinced on some of the busier routes.
I've tried many times in the past to consciously and deliberately drive at 50 kph on local streets (when I felt it was safe to do so) and it just feels way too fast. It
feels like it's wrong and shouldn't be allowed. This is especially so on the narrower streets in older central neighbourhoods with cars parked on both sides (that a kid could emerge from at a moment's notice), but I've found it to be the case in suburban areas as well. It seems my typical going rate on these streets is around 40 kph.
Literature that I've read is that fatalities of vulnerable road users in motor vehicle accidents (pedestrians, cyclists) go down considerably with a 10 kph reduction in speed, and Saskatoon has pedestrian fatalities every year. I also think that impacts of the lower speed on travel times would be barely noticeable.
Another consideration to slowing traffic that's worth noting -- noise reduction and the change to the "feel" of streets, especially on our more pedestrian-heavy streets in the downtown and adjacent areas. They're a lot more pleasant to walk on, or spend time on, when the traffic is a little calmer. I'm less concerned about this effect, say, out on 8th Street. Although if the City wants to make corridors like that more attractive for mixed use development with residential over the next 40 years, then we need to be thinking about making those places into more pleasant living environments as well.
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