City staff push for lower speed limits on many streets in Victoria

This Thursday, City of Victoria Staff will be presenting a report and bylaw amendment that would see the speed limits lowered throughout Victoria. 

The main focus of this speed limit reduction will be to ‘arterial’ and ‘collector’ roads within the city. 

Arterial roads are major roadways that have higher capacity and generally have controlled access, whereas collector roads have lower capacity and higher access while also having access to residential properties. 

In the past, City initiatives have seen many road speed limits reduced in Victoria. However, staff are reporting that around 60% of the city’s streets are still defaulted as being 50 km/h corridors. 

According to City staff, from 2013 through 2023, there were between zero and three traffic-related fatalities each year, with an average of two fatalities annually. 

ICBC data reports that this is a downward trend as compared to years prior, but there is still work to do. 

While Victoria has been persistent in its efforts of encouraging more active transportation and transit usage to eliminate the number of personal vehicles using the streets, Staff believe that slower speed limits would help further the safety of those using them. 

“Car crashes at higher speeds are more likely to occur than at lower speeds due to factors such as reduced driver field-of-vision, slower reaction time and longer braking distances,” reads City staff’s report.  

“At slower speeds, pedestrians can make more effective decisions about when to cross the road, and drivers have more capacity to stop in time.”

Additionally, staff noted that the speed of a vehicle is a life-or-death factor when a collision occurs. 

What might the speed limits be?

The following are the proposed speed limit reductions that city council will consider:

• 50 km/h:
  • Arterial streets outside the downtown with six lanes which includes Blanshard Street and Douglas Street north of Caledonia Street
• 40 km/h:
  • Arterial streets with fewer than six lanes 
  • Arterial streets that are planned for modifications with features such as narrower travel lanes, protected cycling infrastructure and wider sidewalks or boulevards 
  • Collector streets within the downtown core—except those that are recommended to be 30 km/h 

• 30 km/h:
  • Collector streets with narrow cross-sections 
  • Collector streets that front a park/playground, school or village centre 
  • Collector streets with characteristics such as significant curvature, or existing traffic calming features

Staff are presenting three options to council regarding the above, but these are City staff’s recommended changes. 

City staff are proposing the changes be implemented in increments over the years.

These changes would begin immediately, if the bylaw amendments being proposed are passed. City staff’s goal is to have all the above changes implemented by the end of 2027. 

See the map of these changes below:

How do you feel about these proposed speed limit reductions?

Let us know in the comments.