DSD-2021-177 - Neighbourhood Speed Limit Review

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To better understand the effectiveness of increased enforcement on lowered speed limits, police presence was heightened in one of the three pilot areas during the data collection period.The area selected for heightened police presence was the Huron pilot area To assess the effectiveness of the pilot program, data was collected in May 2021 and compared with data collected inthe three years prior to the speed limit reduction.The results of the before-after study aresummarized in Table 2. Table 2–Before After Speed Study Results thth NeighbourhoodBefore Before After After 85# of Average85 th Average 85Average Percentile roadsDifference Percentile OperatingPercentile OperatingSpeedstudied(km/h)Difference SpeedSpeedSpeed(km/h)(km/h) (km/h)(km/h)(km/h) Huron Area43.9051.5439.1647.217-4.74-4.33 (-11%)(-8%) Doon South 46.4055.0345.9053.619-0.50-1.42 Area(-1%)(-3%) Idlewood Area48.0155.8443.3051.868-4.71-3.98 (-10%)(-7%) Reducingthe speed limitsin residential neighbourhoods has resulted in ain a1% to 11% reduction in vehicle operatingspeeds,depending on the neighbourhood. Staff feel that a key component of the reduction is also the education and engagement efforts that were undertaken. It is worth noting that heightened police presence may have also contributed to lower vehicle operating speeds in the Huron neighbourhood.The further reduction of speed limits in school zones showed the greatest impact in reduced vehicle operating speeds. Data collectedinschool zones showeda 12% (from 41.2 to 36.4 km/h) reduction th in the averageoperatingspeed and a 13% (49 to 42.4 km/h) reduction in the 85percentile speeds.Staff also conducted a detailed analysis of the data collected to gain a greater th understanding of the impact on higher operating speeds; the 15% that drive above the 85 percentile speeds. The data showed a greater reduction in speeds in this segment, which should lead to an increase in overall road user safety. Recommendations Based on the results described in the previous sections, staff recommend lowering speed limits from 50 km/h to 40 km/h in all residential neighbourhoods within the City of Kitchener. Further, staff recommend that, school zones’ and neighbourhood bikeways’ speed limits within the residential areas be reduced to 30 km/h. Similar to the pilot project, a gateway signage approach is requiredat all locations. Staff have developed a map sectioning the City into potential Neighbourhood Speed Limit Areas.These areasare mostly bounded by arterial streets and regional roads. This map is provided in Appendix A.As shown in the map, severalarterial roads and major collector roads intended to move and distribute large volumes of traffic are not included in the 40km/h zones. These include roads such as Block Line Road, Huron Road, Belmont Ave W, Queen’s Boulevard, Strasburg Road, etc.