Saint John could review speed limits on several residential streets in the city over the coming months.
This as city staff report a spike in the number of community requests this year to slow vehicle speeds.
During their first meeting last week, public safety committee members recommended to council that speed limits be reviewed on at least 20 streets and be lowered to 40 km/h on “several” of them.
But Tim O’Reilly, the city’s director of transportation, cautions that a lower speed limit will not eliminate speeding.
“Generally, best practice indicates that it’s that physical characteristic of a street that influences it,” O’Reilly told committee members.
“If you just simply lower the speed limit without impacting physical characteristics, you’re going to continue to have speeding problems.”
O’Reilly said lowering the speed limit will usually slow down drivers who follow the rules, but not always the ones who were speeding in the first place.
He noted that the city’s traffic calming policy focuses heavily on measures that change the physical characteristic of a street.
O’Reilly said the city normally receives about 20 requests for traffic calming each year. This year, approximately 60 requests were received during the first six months alone.
“Most of these requests are received from citizens with a genuine concern for the safety of themselves or, in most cases, those around them,” said O’Reilly.
The committee also asked council to send a request to the police commission asking for a recurring speed enforcement blitz on residential streets.
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