Fort Saskatchewan residents are reacting to the upcoming speed limit changes.
Changes to speed limits in the city are taking effect on May 16. These updates aim to align with the traffic safety project, Vision Zero.
Some of the affected areas are school zones, unmarked residential roads and the downtown core.
“As a business owner on this street [100 Avenue], I think it’s a great idea. It’s very high traffic and [has] lots of pedestrians,” Jackie Switzer, owner of The Barn Door, said.
Highway 15 is getting a speed increase from 70km/h to 80km/h in hopes of having a smoother flow of traffic.
“We’ve seen numerous times cars speeding well past the speed limit, which I think is very dangerous,” observed Switzer.
The new default limit in Fort Saskatchewan will be 40km/h.
“Residential areas do need to start slowing down because I’ve seen way too many instances where kids and dogs almost get hit because people are going too fast,” Bree Hamilton, a lifelong resident of the city, said.
The city states that the familiarisation period with the changes will end approximately 30 days after the implementation date.
“My concern is only that [the speed limits] are posted clearly. People take time to see changes. Especially if there are people are coming into the Fort; we want to be that kind of place where we are not hiding what our expectations are. So, if the speed limits have changed, it needs to be clear,” explained Carrie Calef, 18 year resident of Fort Saskatchewan.
According to the city, overall collisions have been reduced in the last five years by 42 per cent.