The city is opening the doors for its gateway speed limit pilot program to expand residential neighbourhoods city-wide.
In a municipal report recommending the pilot program be expanded and made permanent, the city also published further evidence that the automated speed-enforcement cameras the province cancelled last week were effective in slowing traffic.
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.”
Council members approved gateway speed limits as a pilot program a few years ago, with signs installed in 2023 and the program extended last year to continue into 2025.
Under the pilot program, one residential neighbourhood in each of the city’s 12 wards was signed as a gateway speed limit zone, in which the speed limit was reduced from 50 km/h to 40 km/h.
School zones dropped to 30 km/h, which a report by city Traffic and Transportation engineering analyst Mohammad Nabipour recommends signing differently than the year-round signs currently in place.
“Staff have heard concerns from residents throughout the pilot project that this speed limit feels unnecessarily low, especially during the hours the schools are not operational and during the summer months,” his report notes. “This has led to driver frustration and a sense among residents that the speed limits have been unfairly applied.”
Nabipour recommends installing signs indicating a 30 km/h speed limit only during school hours and the school season, accompanied by flashing beacons to indicate when the reduced limit is in effect.
“It ensures maximum protection for students during peak times while minimizing unnecessary restrictions outside school hours,” Nabipour wrote. “Flashing beacons provide clear visual cues, improving driver awareness and compliance.”
This would apply to areas which currently have reduced school speed limits and not affect arterial roadways.
By adopting gateway speed limit signs in residential neighbourhoods throughout the municipality, the city would create “a uniform speed environment that enhances safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists,” according to Nabipour’s report.
“Lower speeds reduce the severity of collisions and support the city’s broader goals for active transportation and community livability.”
An established speed limit of 40 km/h in residential neighbourhoods will also help shape future road design, such as traffic-calming features, and help the city adopt Complete Streets Guidelines, including reduced lane widths.
The extended gateway speed limit program’s $260,000 one-time cost is anticipated to be covered by speed camera revenue, and its ongoing annual maintenance cost is $26,000.
As for automated speed-enforcement cameras’ effectiveness, Nabipour’s report highlights the impacts of five cameras on slowing 85th percentile speeds (the speed at or below which 85-per-cent of vehicles are travelling), showing reductions in most cases.
While 85th percentile speeds fell by an average of 22.46 per cent in close proximity to automated speed cameras (reducing in every case), they dropped by an average of 0.34 per cent along 11 adjacent streets, which Nabipour dismissed as “negligible.”
(That said, the average among adjacent streets was heavily impacted by two streets, including Field Street and Woodbine Avenue, which recorded a respective 9.8 per cent and 17.02 per cent increase in speeds. All nine other streets adjacent to speed cameras ranged from no change to a 9.26-per-cent drop.)
Nabipour’s report will be voted on during the Nov. 24 operations committee meeting of city council. The meeting can be viewed in-person at the Lionel E. Lalonde Centre and livestreamed by clicking here.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.