Most people don’t know it, but besides dying from an illicit drug overdose or suicide, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of preventable deaths in British Columbia. One of the easiest ways to reduce the number of people that die or are seriously injured due to motor vehicle crashes is to reduce the speed of motor vehicles.
In most places where they are serious about reducing the number of people that are killed or injured due to motor vehicle crashes, they have implemented a default speed limit of 30km/h on streets. There are roads with higher speeds too, and they are designed to be safer at higher speeds.
In BC, the default speed limit is 50km/h. This applies to residential streets as well. The difference between 30km/h and 50km/h, for someone walking or cycling if they are hit by a motor vehicle, is the difference between life and death.
Today in our province, if municipalities want to lower the speed limit on residential streets to 30km/h, every single block of every residential street would have to have a 30km/h sign. In addition, a bylaw would need to be created to authorize a 30km/h speed limit for every single block where a 30km/h sign would be placed. Placing this large number of signs is not feasible for most municipalities due to the on-going maintenance and administration costs. This would also create a lot of needless visual clutter.
Since 1999, municipalities in BC have asked that the province to allow a default 30km/h speed limit on residential streets. At last year’s Union of BC Municipalities Conference, this request was again asked of the province.
Like every other time in the last 20 years, the province decided to not move forward with this recommendation.
The District of Saanich, which is the largest municipalities on Vancouver Island, send a letter to Premier Horgan expressing their disappointment that the province has once again decided to not take action to reducing the default speed limit to 30km/h for residential streets.
Saanich Mayor and Council asked that the province reconsider. Langley City council at its January 27th meeting also approved sending a letter to the Premier Horgan in support of Saanich Mayor and Council.
It is time that we reduce the number of people that are killed and seriously injured on our streets.
At the same council meeting, a new Advisory Design Panel was approved to replace the previous Advisory Planning Commission. The new Advisory Design Panel will provide advice to council on proposed development projects. The former Advisory Planning Commission was all laypeople. The new Advisory Design Panel will include laypeople and “architects and landscape architects, to provide technical advice on development applications.”
Council members sit on various committees. For 2020, this list of committee appointments was confirmed at the January 27th meeting. The full list of appointments can be downloaded from the City’s website.
Finally, council passed a motion unanimously “directing staff to prepare a report providing information on potential liability, costs, and compliance with Use of Corporate Identity and Brand Policy CO-64 as it relates to the holding of a City Mayor's Gala on an annual basis.”
1 comment:
"Today in our province, if municipalities want to lower the speed limit on residential streets to 30km/h, every single block of every residential street would have to have a 30km/h sign."
I‘v heard about other places using the existing yellow road center lines as the indicator if the local street is 50kph vs. 30kph.
Streets with a center line are 50. Street with no center line are 30. Simple, practical and achievable with only a legislation change.
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