Waterloo Region Record

30 km/h speed limit roils Waterloo race

Council voted in June to reduce the residential speeds against public input and planners’ advice

JEFF OUTHIT WATERLOO JEFF OUTHIT IS A WATERLOO REGION-BASED GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER FOR THE RECORD. REACH HIM VIA EMAIL: JOUTHIT@THERECORD.COM

Coun. Diane Freeman got an earful and is sorry she voted to reduce speed limits to 30 km/h on all residential streets.

“I think I’ve sufficiently had the life beat out of me by the people in my ward,” she told city council Monday.

Freeman is fighting for re-election Oct. 24 in a ward in Waterloo’s northeast.

“I totally regret that I made that vote,” she said in an interview. “I’m totally having buyer’s remorse … I know nobody’s going to drive 30.”

Municipal candidates are hearing about the pending speed reduction at the doorstep.

“That’s sort of a final reason I decided to join the campaign,” said Joe Brenner, campaigning against the 30 km/h limit. “I’m hearing it’s a major issue with people.”

Brenner wants residential speed limits left at 40 or 50 km/h, except for 30 km/h limits in school zones and on streets that have special characteristics.

“I think (councillors) seem to be voting ideologically rather than really what the people want,” Brenner said.

He hopes to unseat Coun. Jen Vasic who supports the reduction.

“I have not had the life beaten out of me, but people have wanted to talk about it. A couple of people have been mad,” Vasic said.

She has explained that busier roads will still have speed limits above 30 km/h.

She argues a lower limit on residential streets responds to demands to calm traffic.

“Traffic calming is really the No. 1 issue that people talk to me about all the time,” she said.

City council voted 5-3 in June to reduce the speed limit on all residential streets to 30 km/h. The decision went against public input and the advice of traffic planners.

Public input showed greater support for a reduction to 40 km/h. One in four who provided input to rejected any speed reduction.

The reduced limit will take years to fully implement on more than 700 streets.

It will put Waterloo out of step with many cities, including Kitchener where residential streets are moving to 40 km/h.

The 30 km/h limit will not apply to busier roads, including commuter routes. Busier streets account for 40 per cent of paved lanes in the city.

Candidate Khaled Berbash wants the next council to reopen speed limits for more discussion. He is running against Coun. Royce Bodaly who voted for 30 km/h.

“The general trend of people is that they are against it, they don’t like it,” Berbash said.

Bodaly said he’s had seven people tell him on the doorstep they will not vote for him because he supports the 30 km/h limit. He said he’s had dozens of conversations in which people have warmed to his view that the lower limit will help make traffic safer.

“There’s no doubt that there are certainly differing opinions,” he said. “It’s extremely important that we implement the plan.”

Mary Lou Roe supports a limit of 30 km/h in her central neighbourhood and is hearing support from the public. She’s vying for the vacant seat of Coun. Jeff Henry who is not seeking re-election.

Roe says she may support revisiting speed limits “because I feel that people need to be heard and if they are concerned, then they need to be visible.”

Council reduced residential speed limits to 30 km/h citing research showing that collisions at lower speeds are less likely to hurt or kill people.

Traffic planners recommended a reduction to 40 km/h, warning that 30 km/h would be seen as too slow, doesn’t match road design, won’t change driver behaviour and is unlikely to be obeyed.

Candidate Bob Oberholtzer supports a 30 km/h limit as he vies to unseat Vasic.

“I’m for safety any which way it goes, because there is too much speeding,” he said.

Other candidates who support a 30 km/h limit include Obinna Obi, aiming to unseat Freeman, and Jonathan Cassels, who is vying for Henry’s vacant seat.

Cassels is not inclined to reopen speed limits.

“The impact to people, despite the poor communication, isn’t all that large. And spending more money again to change it again isn’t the most efficient use of resources,” he said.

Online polling by tech startup Waterloo Region Polling found 79 per cent of Waterloo respondents oppose the reduction to 30 km/h.

The poll of 1,430 people across the region represents the opinion of respondents who tend to be English speakers, are frequently online and are interested enough to participate.

It was conducted in August by social media and email.

Freeman voted for 30 km/h hoping it will persuade drivers to slow down even if they do not obey the limit.

“For me, 30 has always been a psychology piece, not an enforcement piece,” she said.

She has since been persuaded it is an unrealistic speed for all residential streets.

“I would say a lot of people are probably OK with 40 in neighbourhoods, but that 30 just seems too slow,” she said.

Waterloo Region Polling found 79 per cent of Waterloo respondents oppose the reduction to 30 km/h

LOCAL

en-ca

2022-09-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-29T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://waterloorecord.pressreader.com/article/281560884671684

Toronto Star Newspapers Limited