Victoria City Council today took a step towards implementing speed limit reductions on almost every street in the city to 30 or 40km/h, down from the default 50km/h.
Council voted unanimously to direct staff to prepare the relevant amendments to the city’s streets and traffic bylaw. This means staff will return to council with proposed reductions to posted speed limits on arterial and collector streets, which would ultimately reduce 99 per cent of streets within the city would be posted at 40km/h or less.
Councillor Stephen Hammond moved the motion, saying he’s very interested in what staff is suggesting.
“We’ve got so many cars and it is such a small city," Hammond said. "I just think, look if you want to drive faster, go to another city. We don’t got a lot of space and we have a lot of people in here.”
Councillor Jeremy Caradonna, who seconded the motion, suggested these changes could take up to three years to implement. City staff noted that the changes would vary by location starting as soon as “quite immediately next year.”
Mayor Marianne Alto also spoke before the vote, saying that staff’s presentation suggested community safety is tied with traffic safety.