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