Default speed limit drops to 40 km/h on Aug. 6
Edmonton's new default speed limit in residential and downtown areas will take effect in one month.
Starting Aug. 6, the speed limit in those areas will drop from 50 km/h to 40 km/h.
According to the director of the city's Safe Mobility program, people who are struck by a vehicle at the lower speed are much more likely to survive the crash.
"So what we're doing is we're really increasing safety for people who are living in their neighbourhoods," Jessica Lamarre told media on Friday, speaking on a sidewalk in King Edward Park community, whose residents will be some of many across the city affected by the change.
"We're using streets for more than just vehicle travel. We're using them to gather as a community, to go to the playground, to walk to school, and so we want to make those streets more safer and really to create a space that's more livable for everyone."
"The number one neighbourhood concern on any citizen survey we've given, all the way back to the early 90s before I started… has been traffic," Insp. Keith Johnson, who leads Edmonton Police Service's traffic services branch, added. "It's speed, it's distracted driving. It's going through stop signs."
GRACE PERIOD
The city is launching a public awareness campaign to tell people about the change, and drivers will have a grace period from Aug. 6 to Sept. 1 to get used to it.
During those weeks leading up to the new school year, people caught violating the rule will receive a warning rather than ticket, unless they're caught violating traffic laws excessively.
Lamarre said the city's research suggests the large majority of Edmontonians respect speed limits, and so she doesn't expect "huge jumps" in enforcement.
Signs will also be posted at city limits to inform drivers coming into the city.
Both Lamarre and the EPS have touted the change as one supportive of the city's Vision Zero goal by 2032.
According to Johnson, EPS' major collisions unit is investigating 10 fatal crashes in 2021. It counted 12 I 2020.
Lowering the default speed limit cost the city $1 million and was funded by the Traffic Safety Automated Enforcement Reserve, not tax levy.
A map of the changes and more information is available online.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.