The leisurely speed of 30 kilometres an hour will remain in place for the downtown core of Penticton.
City council voted to keep the speed limit on Tuesday, with only one councillor opposing the motion.
Before the vote, Coun. Katie Robinson spoke out in opposition to the speed limit.
“It boggles my mind that a lot of the businesses downtown actually had so much support for this because the slower speed makes it more difficult for people to get in and out of downtown,” she said.
Robinson was referring to information that Mitch Moroziuk, general manager of infrastructure, had relayed from the Downtown Penticton Association earlier in the meeting.
Moroziuk told council the DPA surveyed their members and 82 per cent of 57 respondents wanted to maintain the 30 km/h limit.
Moroziuk also said the RCMP, bylaw and engineering departments, as well as the Penticton Cycling Association, opposed an increase in the speed limit downtown.
“From bylaw’s point of view, they have not been receiving complaints about the 30 km/hr speed limit and they feel that if the speed limit was increased, so would the accident rate,” Moroziuk said.
Related: 27 tickets in one day handed out for speeding in Penticton school zones
“RCMP have received no complaints, except from those that were issued speeding tickets,” he added. “They feel it would be difficult for anyone to go faster given the number of elderly people, people jaywalking and the general inattentiveness that they see in this area.
Three pedestrians were struck in the last three months in this area and they do not recommend raising the speed limit.”
Moroziuk said the multi-national road traffic safety project Vision Zero research shows 90 per cent of pedestrians will survive being struck by a motorist travelling at 30 km/hr, while only 15 per cent will survive when struck by a vehicle travelling 50 km/hr.
In addition to safety concerns, Moroziuk said the engineering department noted it would not be possible to increase the downtown speed limit to 50 km/hr without making changes to the raised intersections at Westminster, Nanaimo and Wade since those were designed for a vehicle speed of 30 km/hr.
“To me, this is a no-brainer from a safety issue and an economic issue,” said Coun. Campbell Watt before moving council recommend staff make no changes to the downtown speed limit.
“I support the motion to keep that speed limit in the downtown core and on the other streets as well,” added Coun. Jake Kimberley. “Being a frequent coffee drinker downtown, I’ve seen so many scary situations where people are exceeding that speed limit and it just looks like an accident waiting to happen.”
Watt suggested further speed reductions in other areas of the city and Kimberley suggested putting a camera on Main Street, a suggestion Moroziuk said staff would have to examine in terms of legality.
While Robinson said she’d be the first person to look at the safety aspect, she maintained that she thinks the speed limit on downtown side streets such as Winnipeg and Ellis should go back to 50 km/hr.
“I can see I didn’t win last time and I won’t win this time,” she said.
The 30 km/hr speed limit in the downtown core dates back to 2014.
On Nov. 3, 2014, after community engagement, council passed a resolution that reduced the speed limit from 50 km/hr to 30 km/hr within the area bounded by Lakeshore Drive, Winnipeg Street, Wade Avenue and Ellis Street.
Council also included Main Street to Jermyn Avenue in the speed reduction project.
karissa.gall@blackpress.ca
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