Speed reduction first step toward safer streets

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2023/04/10/speed-reduct...

WINNIPEG’S residential speed-reduction pilot program is crawling along and the early results appear to be getting the green light from community members.

“It’s nice,” Shannon Shields told the Free Press recently of the speed reduction in Bourkevale.

“It just gives it a little bit of a different vibe that other neighbourhoods don’t have.”

Bourkevale, a St. James subdivision along the banks of the Assiniboine River, is one of four neighbourhoods in which speed limits have been temporarily reduced to see whether drivers adjust accordingly and how those changes impact local livability.

Speed limits have been lowered from 50 km/h to 30 km/h in Bourkevale and Tyndall Park; and to 40 km/h in Worthington and Richmond West.

Signage was erected in March and will remain in place for one year.

This pilot project has widespread potential to rewrite how our streets are designed and how drivers interact with people and infrastructure around them — for the better.

It’s no secret that Winnipeg is a car city. Urban sprawl and lacklustre public transportation make it nearly impossible to navigate life without a vehicle. This hierarchy puts human beings at the bottom and creates an adversarial relationship on the road.

Perhaps it should be a little more difficult for drivers to get around, especially in residential neighbourhoods where vehicles and pedestrians often mingle more closely.

Research shows the likelihood of death or serious injury for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle is greatly reduced when speed limits are lower.

Winnipeg is grappling with a major uptick in traffic fatalities. Last year, 28 people died in vehicle collisions, including 12 pedestrians, compared with nine fatalities in both of the previous two years. This is a horrific and unacceptable trend.

Vision Zero is a road safety movement, popularized by the Swedish government, that aims to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and injuries.

The campaign has been gaining traction in North America and is a stated goal of the Winnipeg Road Safety Strategic Action Plan released in 2022. While the document cites research, infrastructure and policy as ways to move “towards zero,” it also points to the need for a culture shift.

Could a culture shift be achieved through speed reduction and physical roadblocks?

The aforementioned “vibe” described by Ms. Shields can be summed up as a sense of mutual respect between drivers and other road users.

The simple act of travelling at a lower rate of speed signals care for those who aren’t protected by thousands of pounds of steel. Care and respect make for closer communities and safer streets.

Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt recently raised a motion to include traffic-calming measures in street-renewal projects. If approved, road repairs could involve the addition of speed bumps, curb extensions and road narrowing. These design elements would make it harder to speed and force drivers to pay closer attention while behind the wheel — beneficial outcomes for everyone involved.

At the same time, if we are to make driving more difficult, we need to make alternative modes of transportation more accessible. Sweden is now “moving beyond vision zero,” an initiative that seeks to eliminate road fatalities while also creating a strong multi-modal system that prioritizes public transit, cycling networks and walking paths.

While roundabouts and 30 km/h speed limits won’t make sense for every neighbourhood, it’s imperative that the city explore every opportunity to improve road safety.

Everyone has the right to get where they’re going safely. It’s encouraging to see citizens and politicians moving (carefully) towards the same goal