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Drivers will need to pay attention to speed limits in Regina’s Cathedral neighbourhood soon.
The Cathedral Community Safety Zone takes effect on Aug. 12, and the speed limit is being reduced to 40 km/h throughout the neighbourhood, located south of Saskatchewan Drive and between Albert and Pasqua streets.
It will be the first reduced-speed Community Safety Zone in the city as part of the city’s Vision Zero action plan.
“Traffic safety is extremely important to the City of Regina and to the residents of our community,” said Chris Warren, director of roadways and transportation for the City of Regina, at a news conference on Tuesday.
From left, Jonathan Lorenc, chair of the Cathedral Area Community Association; Chris Warren, director of roadways and transportation for the City of Regina; Inspector Shawn Fenwick of Regina Police Service; and Vikas Ravada, manager of traffic engineering for the City of Regina. (John Cairns/980 CJME)
Warren said residents of Cathedral will see 60 new signs throughout the entire safety zone, at all entrances and exits. They are being installed at a total cost of $15,000.
Bases and posts have been installed over the last few of weeks and some signs are already up. The city hopes to have them all up for Aug. 12.
Warren says in the coming days the community can expect to see the signs going up and bags being placed on the signs. The signs will then be uncovered on Aug. 11 and the safety zone will come into effect on Aug. 12.
Regina Police Service will begin enforcing the new reduced speed limit on Aug. 12. Initially they plan to issue warnings and educate the public for about four to eight weeks before they start issuing speeding tickets. There will be efforts by police to communicate to their stakeholders about when drivers can expect warnings and when to expect tickets.
“I think that part of what we are doing now is an educational phase,” said Inspector Shawn Fenwick of Regina Police Service. “Because it’s a big change from what we’re used to, the public and our citizens of Regina need to understand the behaviour change that’s expected.”
The goal is to reduce accidents in the Cathedral neighbourhood. The area has seen some fatal incidents in the area in recent years along 13th Avenue.
When asked about the issues in the neighbourhood, Fenwick pointed to the streets being narrower and the big residential component.
“I think that lends to perhaps some traffic safety issues and the lower speeds will hopefully prevent personal injury and property damage.”
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‘Multiple conflict points’ in Cathedral
Warren said part of the reason they chose Cathedral as the first Community Safety Zone in the city was because of the mix of schools, daycares, businesses, churches and housing in the neighbourhood “that create multiple conflict points.”
“A lot of pedestrian activity, a lot of vehicular movement, and so a lot of opportunity for conflicts. We thought this would be a good candidate to install some new measures to increase road safety in this area.”
“Traffic safety has been one of the longest running advocacy points in the life of the community association,’ said Jonathan Lorenc, chair of the Cathedral Area Community Association.
“Seeing some actionable initiatives coming into our neighbourhood to increase pedestrian safety is definitely something that we are very, very happy to see, and we hope it continues to be an iterative process where, as issues are identified, we continue to work with the city to make our neighbourhood as safe as it could be.”
Council made the decision in May to go with a reduced speed of 40 km/h after an initial proposal to reduce the speed to 30 km/h.
Warren said ultimately city council agreed the 40 km/h limit was “a balance between enhancing the safety for pedestrian and cyclists through this neighbourhood, as well as balancing the commuting times and the needs of the surrounding community.”
Even with the final speed limit set a little higher, officials believe the reduction from 50 km/h down to 40 km/h will make a difference. In their news release, the city says this will decrease the likelihood of fatality in the event of an accident from 85 per cent down to 30 per cent.
Warren said the reduced speed would increase reaction times for drivers having to brake, increase the “cone of visibility” for pedestrian and road hazards, and also increase the likelihood of a pedestrian surviving a collision.
The plan is for the school zones within Cathedral and the rest of the city to remain at 30 km/h.
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