Not entirely sold on the merits of the lower speed limits which accompany the gateway speed limit program, the city’s elected officials deferred a decision this week to make them permanent.
Gateway speed limits include signs alerting motorists of the speed limit as they enter and exit an affected area. As they enter, signs signal the speed limit “begins” and as they exit, “ends.”
Adopted by Greater Sudbury city council as a pilot program in 2023, the gateway speed limit program has seen speed limits drop from 50 km/h to 40 km/h in one neighbourhood within each of the city’s 12 wards, plus 30 km/h limits in school zones.
The proposal on the table, which city council members deferred to March, would have the program made permanent and expanded throughout all residential neighbourhoods in Greater Sudbury.
Key to city council members’ reluctance to proceed with this proposal is data which shows that lowering speed limits alone doesn’t necessarily make streets safer.
In response to comments from Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin, in which she said it doesn’t appear as though lower speed limits alone slow down motorists, city Traffic and Transportation manager David Knutson said, “You’re right.”
“Lowering the speed limit without any type of enforcement or traffic calming measures should be cautioned,” he said.
However, he clarified, lower speed limits is step one in a much broader long-term strategy.
“Looking forward … going to a lower speed limit will affect future traffic-calming designs, it helps support our complete streets guidelines that were recently implemented, and there are a number of other safety benefits.”
The city plans on ramping up traffic calming efforts using revenue from automated speed-enforcement cameras and the funding they have secured from the provincial government as consolation for the province’s decision to cancel the speed camera program.
The city’s Complete Streets Design Guidelines propose such infrastructure changes as narrower streets and wider sidewalk designs.
“This isn’t something that’s going to necessarily affect driver behaviour overnight,” Knutson said of gateway speed limits. “But, in the long run, as we reconstruct roads or rehabilitate roads, we can use that lower-posted speed limit in those designs.”
During his remarks later on in the meeting, city Linear Infrastructure Services director Joe Rocca added that the goal behind gateway speed limits lowering the speed limit to 40 km/h “is to try to implement the culture of driving we want in the community, and that begins with setting expectations of how we want people to drive on our residential roads.”
Although various jurisdictions which implemented 40 km/h gateway speed limits reported “little change” in speeds, Rocca said, “We’re trying to establish that driving in residential neighbourhoods is not appropriate at 50 km/h, it’s more appropriate at 40 km/h, and changing the speed limit is the first step in that.”
Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent’s successful motion to defer a decision to March includes a request for staff to provide a “bigger picture” of what this strategy looks like, including insights from Greater Sudbury Police Service.
“Culturally, we are all driving a little bit faster than we used to,” Parent said. “I’m not sure why we’re in such a hurry but we seem to be.”
Regardless of what city council decides, Ward 4 Coun. Pauline Fortin contended that it’ll ultimately come down to police enforcement.
Greater Sudbury Police Service members issued 868 speeding tickets in 2024, she said.
“For the entire year,” she added, against more than 3,600 lane kilometres within the city.
“You can’t speed bump and sign your way out of this problem. What we actually need is for the police to get out there and actually give tickets.”
Under the gateway speed limit program, school zones have been signed at 30 km/h. Staff have proposed making the speed limit 40 km/h throughout residential neighbourhoods, with special signs installed in school zones which flash during school hours to signal a lower 30 km/h speed limit is at play.
This, too, will be afforded broader context in the staff report city council will receive in March.
“As soon as you put an option for two different speed limits at two different times, my concern is the confusion that will be created with our drivers,” Ward 3 Coun. Michel Brabant said.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.