Saskatoon should lower the speed limit on local roads

Recently in Boston, a small boy was hit by a vehicle on a local street and died. Now Boston is looking at lowering its speed limit on local streets to 20 mph (32 km/h) from 25 mph (40 km/h).

Saskatoon's default speed limit on local streets is 50 km/h.

Cities are for people. There is a growing, frustrated segment of our society who want to walk in their communities but find it unsafe and uncomfortable. They are tired of waiting for cars.

Is it any wonder we have seen a recent increase in attention to speed limits in Saskatoon? This is a sign of a growing, larger city with a faster pace of life.

Due to the ever-increasing number of cars and the new roads built recently to accommodate growth, road safety is becoming a more visible issue.

Pedestrians are trying to take their cities back. They are demanding safer crosswalks, removal of the walk-light beg buttons on light standards, longer walk-lights, scramble corners and yes, slower traffic.

Unfortunately motorists not pedestrians and not cyclists are top priority in Saskatoon.- Alan Wallace

Road width and traffic speed

We'll need a short primer on roadways before we go further.

All roadways have a design capacity and a speed rating. Capacity refers to the number of cars per day the road is designed to accommodate. A speed rating is usually tied to the classification of roadway. All roadways fit in a category ranging from local roads (low volumes of cars) to major arterial roads (high volumes of cars).

In short, local roadways are narrower and run directly in front of homes. They also accommodate slower traffic. Local roads eventually all lead to collector roads. Collector roads are wider but still maintain a 50 km/h speed limit. Collector roads are normally located in front of elementary schools.

There are two issues that affect road safety road width and traffic speed. Saskatoon has a problem with both.

First, the problem with road width. It is a fact that the wider the road, the faster drivers will drive. As a result, there has been an increase in the amount of traffic calming measures on collector roads: digital readouts, speed bumps, signage, bulb-outs at key intersections, speed cameras and more.

If so many roadways now require traffic calming measures to be added, why are the streets designed that way in the first place?

We have a choice between making it safer for everyone or continuing to design roadways and set speed limits for the convenience of drivers.- Alan Wallace

Second, the speed debate. Currently in Saskatoon the default speed limit for local streets is set at 50 km/h. I dare anyone to try and hit 50 km/h on a local street. Driving at that speed seems uncomfortable in an environment with single family homes and children living on those streets. So why not set the default limit to 40 km/h on local roads?

Unfortunately motorists not pedestrians and not cyclists are top priority in Saskatoon. Look at how street lines are painted every year. Each spring the City of Saskatoon dutifully repaints street lines on city streets. It starts with vehicle lanes and dashed lines for cars, followed several weeks later by lines for faded and missing crosswalks. Cars first, pedestrians next.

Examples of a better way

So how could we do better? Let's look at two planned environments in Saskatoon specifically designed with the pedestrian as the top priority: River Landing and the University of Saskatchewan campus.

At River Landing, the design includes 'shared streets' where pedestrians and cars are expected to mingle. Hence, there are no curbs. The sidewalk and street are blended together as one. The design is deliberate and the pedestrian is allowed to walk freely throughout the River Landing environment. The driver must yield to all pedestrians regardless of where they are located and how they cross the street. By default, drivers are cautious and cars are slower.

The University is similar. Although there is a formal system of crosswalks, curbs and sidewalks on Campus Drive (the University's equivalent of a collector road), the road is much narrower and the speed limit is lower. How many car/pedestrian fatalities have there been on Campus Drive or at River Landing?

The common denominators in both are narrower streets with lower speed limits.

The design of cities is always about setting priorities. We have a choice between making it safer for everyone or continuing to design roadways and set speed limits for the convenience of drivers.

It's time to follow the trend being set in many cities set speed limits lower and design safe roads for everyone.

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