Get ready for 40 km/h limits on Oak Bay collector roads.
The district revved up its strategy to reduce driving speeds by approving signage for 17 roads in the community to drop 10 km/h below the provincial standard of 50.
The goal is to lower speeds in line with the recommendations of a 2016 traffic study.
Collector roads are the second busiest class of road, with some already signed at 40 km/h, those that aren’t will be after council approved the move for a swathe of streets in one shot during its April 24 meeting.
A 2016 speed study recommended reducing speed limits on most roads in Oak Bay to 40 km/h, while leaving the speed limit on arterial roads at 50 km/h.
READ ALSO: Elderly driver ticketed after hitting teen in Oak Bay crosswalk
“We’re not looking at changing the behaviour so much as matching the actuals people drive,” Mayor Kevin Murdoch said.
Staff earlier noted the traffic study showed more than 85 per cent of drivers were cruising between 40 and 50 km/h on those roads.
Oak Bay is among the municipalities that have long sought to reduce speeds on local streets. The B.C. Motor Vehicle Act establishes the statutory speed limit on all public roads at 50 km/h within municipalities. Local governments can currently only limit speeds by changing bylaws and posting signs on individual streets.
Oak Bay expects to spend about $40,000 – for new signs, posts, and staff time for installation – already earmarked in this year’s budget for transportation safety improvements. Staff also hope to tap some ICBC Road Improvement Program funding.
Similar speed reduction initiatives are underway in Saanich and Victoria.
READ ALSO: Saanich lowering speed limits in 9 major corridors after teen’s death
christine.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca
@van_reeuwyk
christine.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca
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