Edmonton Streets Slow Down

In a 9-3 vote count, Edmonton City Council decided to reduce the speed limit in residential neighborhoods and busy pedestrian areas in the city from 50 km/h to 40 km/h. 

"Council initially approved lowering the limit at a public hearing in March and directed administration to draft the necessary bylaws. Wednesday's statutory public hearing was a legal requirement before the city could make the change," reports Natasha Riebe.

The change comes in the face of widespread disagreement in the public. According to Riebe, city council meetings have been a hotbed of debate about the potential benefits of lowering the speed limit in Edmonton. Several city counselors have avidly canvassed for the speed limit reduction in recent years. 

Still, others see the lowered speed limits as a step in the wrong direction.

"Dziadyk said council should have deferred the decision during the COVID-19 pandemic," Riebe writes, noting the opinion that the city council should have been focusing on more important issues during the pandemic. 

Other opponents cite decreased productivity for delivery services and stunted advancement in technologies related to vehicle safety.

Nonetheless, Biebe says that by next summer, "the city will swap out 1,500 signs at a cost of $1.1 million, funded by the traffic safety automated enforcement reserve."